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Madeline M. Evanek

Madeline M. Evanek, 94, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, October 30, 2018, at Clarview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Sligo.

Madeline was born September 20, 1924 in Huey, PA, to the late Susan Charney Evanek and Joseph Cowatch Evanek.

She attended Watson Grammar School in Huey and graduated as valedictorian of the Sligo High School class of 1943. Because of her outstanding academic achievements, she was recruited by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that same year. As a young female high school graduate in a rural community, she was very brave to move to the large city of Washington, D.C. and enter the workforce.

Her career was outstanding. She moved through the ranks quickly, becoming a Computer Systems Analyst and the first woman to manage the in-house computer system of the FBI. She was written up in Parade Magazine, a national Sunday newspaper supplement. The article highlighted 10 outstanding women professionals in the nation who, in the 1960s, were on the forefront of holding positions that were traditionally held by men. The article described how she used the program Modus Operandi Personal Appearance (MOPA) to enter and query known appearances and behaviors of wanted criminals, helping agents identify and arrest them.

On November 1, 1950, Madeline witnessed the attempted assassination of President Harry S. Truman and her impressive testimony identified both those involved and the weapons used. She also worked tirelessly during the John F. Kennedy assassination. She could not talk about her work, on these or any other investigations to which she was assigned.

Madeline worked for the FBI for 38 years before retiring in 1980 from her position as Digital Computer Systems Administrator. Retirement did not slow Madeline down. She was instrumental in starting the Society of FBI Women, an organization that eventually became the Society of FBI Alumni. She was an officer in that organization and served as the publisher of its quarterly publication, "The Informant."

Madeline was very strong in her Catholic faith and actively served any parish she attended. Even with all her hard work, Madeline was ever dedicated to her family. She never married, instead served as breadwinner to her sister and niece in Washington, D.C., as well as helping family in Clarion County. In 2009, Madeline returned to Clarion County to be near family; she lived with her niece Barbara Bartley in a home on the property where she was raised. In 2013 Madeline became part of the Clarview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center family.

Preceding her in death are: parents - Susan and Joseph Evanek; brothers - Joseph, John, and George Evanek; sisters - Mary Evanek Bartley, Margaret Evanek Colyvas, and Ella Evanek Brooks; and nephews - Michael Brooks, Thomas Brooks, and infant George Bartley.

Madeline is survived by: nieces - Barbara L. Bartley, of Huey, Susan Brooks Moore (Terry), of Lucinda, Christine Brooks Myers (Gene), of Maumee, OH, and Marella Colyvas, of Boulder, CO; nephews - Russell Bartley (Mary), of Clarion, Joseph Bartley (Marilyn), of Sligo, John F. Brooks, II (Carol), of New Bethlehem, Raymond Brooks (Wilma), of Haines City, FL; and many grand-and great-grand-nieces and nephews.

The family will receive friends from 11 AM until the time of the Funeral Mass at 1 PM on Friday, November 2, 2018, at St. Charles Catholic Church, 201 Washington St., New Bethlehem, PA, with the Rev. Samuel Bungo as celebrant.

Interment will be in St. Eusebius Cemetery, East Brady, PA.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the FBI Alumni Foundation, a foundation of the organization Madeline helped form that aids FBI Alumni in need, at [remove_http]https://thefbialumni.com/foundation/.

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