Lois Evelyn Layne

March 14, 1947 – Sept. 7, 2026

A Southern Girl at Heart

“She was a Southern girl at heart, born a coal miner’s daughter in Palmer, Tennessee,

who carried the music of her homeland wherever life took her.

She loved every good person she met - and she told them so.

She was precious and few. She had an unbreakable heart.

She was a rose after the rain.

It truly took a village to walk beside her - and that village showed up, in the end.

Today, she finally goes to rest high on that mountain she always believed in.”

Lois Evelyn Layne, 79, was called home peacefully at her home in the early morning hours of September 7, 2026, following her third and final battle with cancer.    

Though she never married or had children of her own, she was deeply loved. She was surrounded throughout her life by family and friends, who cherished her warmth and generous spirit.

She was born on March 14, 1947, in Palmer, Tennessee, a coal miner’s daughter and the fifth child of William (Bill) McKinley Layne and Rosa Lee Robertson Layne. The family made the journey west, arriving in Lovell on July 11, 1952, where she would spend much of her life.

Lois faced life’s challenges with quiet courage and an unbreakable spirit. She survived polio, fought breast cancer twice and endured hardships that would have broken most people, yet she never lost her gentle heart or her capacity to love.

She loved the color purple, pretty things, coloring, diamond dot artwork, her cherished doll collection and the embroidery work she did alongside her mama. She was a familiar and beloved face at the Big Horn Senior Citizens Center, and there was never a stranger to her. She welcomed everyone with the same open heart.

Her brother Jack held a special place in her heart. She treasured their connection and always looked forward to their phone calls, cherishing the bond that kept them close across the miles. 

Her brother Melvin was a constant and devoted presence in her life. As children, she lovingly called him “Baby,” a nickname born the moment he came into the world. She never missed an opportunity to tell people just how good he was to her. He visited her frequently, always making sure she was alright. He would bring her fresh vegetables straight from his garden, grown with his own hands and delivered with love.

She loved the music of Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Hank Williams Jr., Alan Jackson, George Strait and Elvis, among many other beloved artists, and she sang “In the Pines” in the true tradition of the Appalachian mountains she came from. She was, in every true sense of the word, a rose after the rain.

She was preceded in death by her parents, William McKinley Layne and Rosa Lee Robertson Layne; stepfather Fred Hodges; sister Mildred Bate; brother-in-law Bob Bate; brothers William Wiley Layne, Earl Layne, Melvin Layne and Johnie Layne; and sister-in-law Carol Layne.

She Is survived by her brother, Jack (Roz) Layne of Oregon, brother Al (Pat) Layne of Pennsylvania, sister-in-law Marwyn Layne of Wyoming, sister-in-law Mary Layne of Oregon, as well as numerous beloved nieces and nephews and a wide circle of friends whose lives she quietly and beautifully graced.

Services will be held Saturday, Oct. 24, at 10 a.m. at North Big Horn Senior Citizens Center, 757 Great Western Avenue, in Lovell.