Madge Evelyn Tatum Lo Nigro, age 106½, of San Pedro, California, succumbed to a series of short-term illnesses on Friday, Feb. 8, 2019.  Born in Taylor, Mississippi, on June 4, 1912, she was the eldest, and only survivor of eight children (Catherine Irene Carothers, Effie Corine Womack, Virginia Ruth Walker, Mary Elizabeth Starling, Forrest Eugene, Claude Lee and William Hewlett Tatum) born to Mary Amanda Hamilton and Leslie Claude Tatum, of Taylor.

She graduated from Taylor High School, in 1933, and attended the Natchez Sanitarium Nursing School, where she met her future husband, Petty Officer First Class, Vincent Lo Nigro, USN, a native of Palermo, Sicily.  She and Vincent, her husband of 60 years, who preceded her in death, spent the next years as a Navy family, prior to, and during, World War II, which brought the couple to San Pedro, California, where she has lived for more than 70 years.  

Evelyn retired as the principal of a local prominent Nursery School, in San Pedro, after 25 years. She was known for her compassion for children, as an avid gardener, especially roses, and baker of all types of cookies, cakes, and pies. She was active in the San Pedro Elks Lodge, with Vincent, and many clubs at Holy Trinity Catholic Church.  Friends were always welcomed in her home with coffee, cookies, cake or pie

Survivors include her daughter, Victoria Marie Lo Nigro Jacobs and her husband, Harry, of Whittier, California, and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews in Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, California, Texas, and throughout the United States.  Memorial donations may be made to Holy Trinity School, 1226 W. Santa Cruz Street, San Pedro, CA 90732, or Sacred Heart Southern Mission, 6050 Highway 161 North, Walls, MS 38686.

Funeral Services will be held at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, 1292 W Santa Cruz St, San Pedro, CA 90732 at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019, with interment at Green Hills Memorial Park, 27501 S Western Ave, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275.The family and friends would like to express their gratitude to Emerald Isle Board & Care, Providence Little Company of Mary Transitional Care Unit, Trinity Care Hospice, and the Chaplains of Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center, for their excellent care and compassion.