Wednesday, October 14, 2026
By Submitted Story on September 16, 2026
Ina M. Evans Ernst, aged 97, passed away peacefully on September 12, 2026. Born Ina Dale Meekins on February 17, 1929, one of three children to Earl Ray Meekins and Blanche Hooper Meekins, Ina spent her early childhood in Stumpy Pont, NC, before moving as a preteen, with her family, to Norfolk, VA, where she met her future husband, a Coast Guardsman stationed in Norfolk and residing at the family’s boarding house. Ina attended high school at Brevard College in western NC where she excelled in the arts.
After marrying her first love in 1947, she and her husband, Burwell A. Evans, attended Louisburg College together in Louisburg, NC before relocating to Manteo to open a hardware business and start a family. While raising three children, they went on to open a small motel with seed money from Ina’s parents. While Burwell oversaw the store, Ina managed the motel and gradually expanded it to include 100 rooms, a restaurant, and a health club while branching out into real estate with her father. With the involvement of the second generation and eventually their spouses, Manteo Motel grew into The Elizabethan Inn and Dare Hardware became the Ace Hardware chain of stores on the Outer Banks.
Ina is survived by daughters, Martha E. Pitts (Bill) and Dawn E. Enochs (David); and son Ray Evans (Pam) all of Manteo; grandchildren, Angela D. Pitts, Adrian D. Pitts (Aimee), Amelia P. Rozmus (Joe), Kyle E. Enochs (Diana), Ryan B. Evans (Malorie), and Darren R. Evans (Brooke); great grandchildren, Tucker & Max Rozmus, Alana Evans, Millie and Nora Evans, Asher and Ava Pitts, and Baz Enochs-Brodt; younger sister Mary Beauchamp; and Betty Jo Ernst, daughter of Bill Ernst.
Ina is predeceased by her husband of 57 years, Burwell A. Evans, who passed away in 2005; older sister Lois Jackson; brothers-in-law Neal Jackson, Richard Beauchamp, Burt Lightner and Homer McNeely; and second husband, William Ernst, Jr., whom she married in her late seventies and enjoyed a number of happy years with in Summerville, SC before his passing in 2018.
Ina will be remembered for her keen mind, compassion, deep Christian beliefs, joyful singing in her church choir, and lifelong interests in gardening, puzzle-solving, and creative pursuits.
She designed the home she and Burwell spent many years in, wrote poetry, composed music for piano in her 70s, much of which was included in a professionally recorded and produced CD, loved to dance from an early age, and spent a number of years in her late life collecting family photos, studying genealogy, and recording memories for a family book.
Throughout her career, Ina was deeply involved in community affairs, serving with distinction on the boards of the Roanoke Island Historical Association (producers of “The Lost Colony”), the Outer Banks Community Foundation, and the NC Aquarium.
Her dedicated service was honored by the Roanoke Island Business Association with the presentation of the Association’s first Celebrity Citizen Award in 1998. A year later, Ina was honored with the Roanoke Island Historical Distinguished Service Award.
Ina will be deeply missed by friends and family who cherish the memory of her warm smile, generosity, steadfast integrity, and kind consideration for everyone she knew.
Ina’s final resting place will be at the Roanoke Island Memorial Gardens Mausoleum, where she will join her parents and husband, B.A. Evans, in a private burial ceremony for the family.
In lieu of flowers, donations to honor Ina’s memory can be made to the Roanoke Island Historical Association (https://www.thelostcolony.org/support), by mail to The Lost Colony, 1409 National Park Drive, Manteo, NC, 27954; or to Mount Olivet United Methodist Church (https://mountolivetumc.org), by mail to Mount Olivet UMC, PO Box 787, Manteo, NC, 27954.
Twiford Funeral Homes, Outer Banks, 500 Budleigh Street, Manteo, NC, is honored to serve the Ernst family. Condolences and memories may be shared on Ina’s obituary page at www.TwifordFH.com
