Evelyn Evon Cleveland

Evelyn Evon Hamilton Cleveland, 65, entered rest on Monday, May 25, 2026.

Evon was born on February 26, 1961, to the late Willie B. and Edna E. Hampton of Fort Valley, Georgia. She was preceded in death by her husband, Gary Tyrone Cleveland; sister, Eva Mae Hampton; great-granddaughter, Tru; and fur baby, Coco.

She graduated from Peach County High School in 1979 and received her undergraduate degree in Food and Nutrition from Fort Valley State College (now Fort Valley State University) in 1989.

At FVSU, Evon mastered nutrition science, homemaking, and related skills that later served her well in both her food service jobs and in her personal life, where she became known as one of the best cooks around. During her practicum, she lived on campus, where she demonstrated the depth of her knowledge by managing household operations and nutrition in her student residence and turning it into a model home environment. According to her professor, she was one of the best to ever do it.

Evon also flourished as a flag girl in the FVSU Blue Machine Marching Band, earned a rifle marksmanship distinction in ROTC, and was a member of the Phyettes, a female auxiliary group at the time associated with the Phi Zeta chapter of the Alpha Phi Omega national service fraternity. When she was not hitting the books, Evon could be found in the student center playing spades or bid whist, beloved pastimes that connected her with family and friends throughout her life.

Evon worked in retail management for nearly two decades, first managing Allied Department Store and then Citi Trends, Inc. in Fort Valley. She was a self-described “people person,” and it showed when she greeted every customer with an enthusiastic, “Welcome to Citi Trends!” Her exemplary store management led to a South Regional training manager position that led her to Gainesville, Jacksonville, and Daytona, Florida. Evon retired in 2009, due to disability, after 18.5 years and moved with her husband to Warner Robins, Georgia, where her children lived and where she could be closer to her mother in Fort Valley.

Evon was a member of Solid Rock Christian Church in Warner Robins. She was also a member of Pride of Fort Valley #143 Order of the Eastern Star, where she served as Worthy Matron—the highest-ranking presiding female officer in a local chapter.

Evon left an impression on all who knew her. Her family will remember her for her easy laugh, impressive card-playing skills (and slick talk at the card table), delicious cakes, pies, macaroni and cheese, and just about everything else. For her, food was community. She always wanted people to enjoy her food and if you were family, she might share a recipe like she did with her eldest niece. She was always the life of the party and loved to dance. Her grandchildren, nieces, and nephews across generations all joke about being summoned to scratch her scalp, though she was famously tender-headed, to scratch her back, and to rub her feet. They also quip that she passed on a love affair with Chicken in a Biskit crackers and Easy cheese that began for her in college. She was an impeccably dressed women. She famously told her oldest sister, “I’m not overdressed. They are underdressed, sister.”

Evon is survived by her daughters, Jontue Hampton and Whitney Denton of Bonaire, Georgia, and special nephews, Marquis Solomon (Macon), Dante’ Oates (Warner Robins) and De-Jad Williams; her siblings, Freddie L. Hampton Sr. of Fort Valley; Eula Solomon (Darryol, deceased) of Warner Robins; Azzie Oates (Larry), John W. Hampton (Debra, deceased), and Mary Hampton, all of Fort Valley; and her aunts, Lula Bell (John) and Doretha Davis. She also leaves to cherish her memory her grandchildren, Jayla Sturn, Juwan Hampton, Jamecia Hampton, Kwalieb Hampton, Taylor Postell, and Tylan Tucker; and 12 great-grandchildren and one on the way. She leaves behind a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.

More than anything, Evon loved her fur baby Coco who was with her from 2008 until she passed in 2024. Surely, we know, she will look for her first when she gets to heaven.

Evon lived life to the fullest and will be greatly missed. She will live on in the hearts of those who loved her.

Visitation will be on Sunday, May 31, 2026, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., at McCullough Funeral Home.  A funeral service will be held on Monday, June 1, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. in the chapel at McCullough Funeral Home.  Afterward, Evon will be laid to rest in Magnolia Park Cemetery. 

McCullough Funeral Home and Crematory has the privilege of being entrusted with these arrangements.