Bill Riehl, at left, works with Valisha Arnold of Clever Toad Design, center, and Mark Todd of Idle Minds Design on the Colton summer season plans which carry on his mother Evelyn’s interest in the arts, history and education

COLTON -- The life of Evelyn Riehl, the late writer of “Sunday Rock - The Folk Musical,” will be celebrated Tuesday, June 16 at 11 am in Zion Episcopal Church, Main Street.

Riehl passed away Dec. 29, 2014 at the age of 94 at her daughter Ann’s home in Arizona. Word reached the Colton Historical Society and other collaborators through her son Bill who said “she died peacefully in her sleep retaining her kindness, spirit, and keen insights to the end.”

Family, friends, colleagues and members of the community are invited and encouraged to share stories about Evelyn or about Evelyn and Bill at the memorial service.

Riehl wrote “Sunday Rock” -- what she referred to as “the work of a lifetime” -- about the logging history of Colton in the early 20th century. Her show was produced twice in Colton over the years and inspired the ongoing and growing Sunday Rock Legacy Project, which annually includes a series of summer musical events as well as historical and educational pursuits throughout the year.

Her son Bill recalls “she was a naturalist who made a point of understanding what she was looking at where ever she found herself. She could be counted on to know every tree, flower and rock in sight. But she was the ultimate people person, maintaining friendships from her neighborhood to wherever she traveled in the world.”

She was a teacher at Parishville-Hopkinton Central school for many years and, before that, at Potsdam High School. She and her husband, Bill, who taught at Colton-Pierrepont School, met while both were attending the Crane School of Music in Potsdam. Bill Sr. died in 1999.

An internship is being created in her honor and in hopes that it will annually give a Colton-Pierrepont Central School student the opportunity to learn more and contribute to their legacy through history and the arts. Starting this summer an intern will work with Bill Riehl and other steering committee members, earning as much as $250 by contributing to planned activities. Remembrance gifts in honor of Evelyn Riehl this year will go towards establishing that internship,

Anyone interested in learning more about the 2015 Project and ways to contribute can call Scott Muller, 244-9956.