Evelyn Matilda (or May) Stehle was the eighth child of Francis Xavier Stehle and Sarah Day. On February 19, 1890, she married a Pontiac, Michigan fruit grower named Albert J. Coonley. They were married in Farmington, Michigan at the home of William McDermott. Rev. N. G. Lyon performed the ceremony while Evelyn's cousin John C. Farrell of Ovid, Michigan and Albert's sister Minnie A. Toomey of Farmington served as witnesses. After their marriage, they moved to Saginaw, Michigan where each had relatives living. Albert worked for his brother George at the Grand Union Tea Company on the west side of the city. In late 1894, the couple moved north to Alpena, Michigan where Albert managed a Grand Union Tea Company store there. It was in Alpena where Evelyn gave birth to their daughter Thelma Louise on November 4, 1894. Albert appears to have lost his Alpena job, and the family then moved to Detroit where Albert found work as a salesman. He lost this job as well. On February 10, 1896, Albert J. Coonley took a revolver, placed it in his mouth, and killed himself at his Detroit home in front of his wife and brother-in-law Al Stehle. According to the Detroit Free Press newspaper, he was despondent over his lack of employment. Albert was buried in Pontiac at the Oak Hill Cemetery. Just three months after Albert's suicide, Evelyn married Albert's friend William E. Robey at her home on North Second Street in Saginaw, Michigan. Rev. William Knight performed this ceremony, while Evelyn's brother Al Stehle from Linden, Michigan and a woman from Saginaw named Stella Bruce acted as witnesses. At the time of the wedding, William E. Robey was a clerk at a men's clothing store. He became a prominent shoe merchant in Saginaw, at one point owning and operating the Robey Shoe House on South Washington Avenue. On July 18, 1897, Evelyn gave birth to their son, Ralph Jones Robey, named after a family friend from Alpena. The Robey family left Saginaw in 1906 and moved to Rochester, New York where William was offered a job, probably as the manager of a shoe store. They only stayed in New York for a couple of years before moving to Johnstown, Pennsylvania. This stay was also brief as the family then moved to Richmond, Virginia in 1909. They lived at various addresses during their stay in Richmond while William worked at a number of different shoe stores. They left Richmond in 1916 for Boston, Massachusetts where again, they lived at numerous addresses while William worked at a number of shoe stores, including the famous Jordan Marsh department store. In 1925, the family left Boston and moved to Berkeley, California where William began a real estate business. Evelyn Matilda (Stehle) Robey died of a cerebral hemorrhage at an Oakland, California hospital on November 23, 1944. She was cremated and her remains placed at the Chapel of the Chimes Columbarium and Mausoleum in Oakland.
Biography compiled by Jeff Stehle. Please credit appropriately.