Her ‘guardian angel’

When 74-year-old Rose Ann Hosler needed help the most, she had her neighbor, David Evey.

On Jan. 3, 2006, Hosler’s husband of 52 years, Merlin, or “Hoss,” as he was known, walked to the end of their driveway to get their morning paper in their North Spokane neighborhood.

“That was the worst day for ice,” Hosler said. Hoss slipped and fell while Rose Ann was watching through the window.

She tried to get him into the house but couldn’t, so she turned to her neighbor, Evey.

“He came barreling over here,” she said.

Evey helped her get Hoss inside and then sprinkled rock salt on the slick driveway for the emergency crews that were on their way. He stayed with the Hoslers until the crews came.

“I helped all I could,” Evey said.

Hoss died the next day.

“He was a good man,” Hosler said. “And I think Dave is, too.”

Evey, 56, grew up in Oklahoma in small towns where neighbors helping neighbors was part of the culture. He doesn’t think much about being a good neighbor. He thinks about doing what’s right.

He worked in oil fields, both on- and off-shore, and met his wife, Linda, when he worked in a carpet factory. He and his family moved into Hosler’s neighborhood about 11 years ago.

Evey’s daughter, Kerinda, remembers that Hosler brought over a fruit basket to welcome them.

In a letter to The Spokesman-Review last summer, Hosler remembers the day the Eveys moved in, too.

“I remember the day I met them. They had come to get a good look at their new home. Linda was so excited. She said, ‘This is our home!’ I could actually feel her excitement.”

The day Hoss fell wasn’t the only time Evey was there for Rose Ann Hosler.

A few years back, Evey noticed two men in a white Blazer driving very slowly through their neighborhood. He didn’t think much of it until Hosler called him and said she saw the men steal her mail. Evey grabbed his cell phone, hopped into his pickup truck and followed the men while she called 911. The Blazer eventually crashed into a tree and the two men were arrested.

“I was so proud of him,” Hosler said.

She got her mail back the next day, and the men went to jail.

Hosler said that Evey is not only good in an emergency, but he’s there to help her with everyday matters as well. He’ll bring her trash cans and recycling bin up from the curb for her. She keeps his phone number by her nightstand, just in case she needs him.

Kerinda will also drop by Hosler’s house to chat.

“Anytime I go over there, five minutes will turn into an hour,” she said.

After living in her North Side neighborhood for 30 years, Hosler gets a lot of help from her neighbors. One will shovel her driveway when it snows. One brought over a card and a flower on the anniversary of her husband’s death.

But she knows that when she’s in a pickle, Evey is there for her.

He’s raised nine children, one of whom recently died, and has 14 grandchildren – 12 of whom are boys.

“The grandkids are fun,” he said.

But he still looks out for his neighbor, because it is the right thing to do.

“She just kind of needed help,” Evey said.