From Cairo.. to Carmel… and finally.... to Lincoln, this former Ballroom Dance instructor, mother of five, and octogenarian still knows how to kick up her heels!

Last Tuesday at Kim’s Country Kitchen’s popular Taco Tuesdays, it was dancing room only as the Fabulous DeVilles rocked the house. Who could keep from dancing? Jay Holland, and just one of his fine dancing partners that evening, Evelyn McCoy showed us how it was done. After just a few moments, Evelyn kicked off her sandals and took up those old steps as if it were yesterday.

Evelyn learned to Jitterbug with the best of them as a teenager in the 1940’s Cairo, Egypt where her family ran a successful Import-Export business. When asked if she were Egyptian, she would answer, “No, I’m Maltese.” To which most would respond, “Like the Falcon?”

No, The Maltese Falcon was not a relative, but her Maltese heritage soared from the strategically located archipelago of seven history laden Isles in the Mediterranean Sea, just off the coast of North Africa. Through the centuries, Malta was held by several ancient cultures, including Sicilians, Romans, Phoenicians, Byzantines and others. The island is commonly associated with the Knights Hospitaller who ruled it. Malta gained independence from Britain 1964, and became a member of the European Union in 2004.

Perhaps Evelyn’s gift for language rose from her history filled roots. Along with English, she is fluent in French, Italian, Maltese, Greek, and Arabic and Spanish. She left Cairo in 1945 when she married my father, the late Colonel Leonard J. McCoy of Salem, Oregon. She traveled abroad and lived in many countries as a Military wife. Evelyn and Col. McCoy raised their five children on the Monterey Peninsula where he was Quartermaster of Fort Ord.

In the fall of 2000, Evelyn left her beloved home in Carmel and moved to Lincoln to be near four of her children who had migrated to Placer County over the previous 15 years. Evelyn has family in Malta, Italy, Greece, England and Australia. She still loves to travel, and dance.

By Kathleen (McCoy) Grover