In Memory of Dina Evan

Together AZ Columnist, Friend, Healer 

On December 12th, 2024, Dr. Dina Evan died in Phoenix Arizona, surrounded by her four children, Misty Mathein, Lauren Loftis, J.D. Gigante, Mia Pierson and Mia’s partner, Tami Swearingin. Dina is survived by six grandchildren: Brittany Wyatt, Brianne Silva, Taryn (Ailo) and Paige Pierson, Brandon and Garrett Mathein. She also has beloved seven great-grandchildren: Aubrie, Benjamin, Jae’Ceon, Caidyn, Skye, Nash and Blue.

 

Dina was best known for her spiritual work and her columns, spanning more than a 25-year period. She was credited for having the highest readership in most magazines. Dina Bachelor Evan, Ph.D., was a noted speaker and 20-year activist on behalf of human rights. She was the author of Break up or Break Through, Love Always and Love from the Inside Out. She was a psychotherapist and executive coach who specialized in seminars, individual and couple therapy. She had offices in Phoenix and Los Angeles where she worked with many high-profile clients from the motion picture and television industry. Dina believed interpersonal relationships are a path of finding Spirit within us and within each other.

 

Dina was one of the seven women who fasted for 37 days on water in Springfield IL, on behalf of the Equal Rights Amendment in 1982. Dina and the six other women succeeded in fasting longer than Gandhi. Dina and her fellow fasters were featured in People Magazine and much of the national press and achieved world acclaim when thousands of other women in the US and France demonstrated their solidarity by fasting in support. In 2006, she was awarded the Veteran Feminist’s medal of Honor for her 20 years of services on behalf of women’s rights.

 

Dina officiated at a massive AIDS ceremony with Whoopi Goldberg during the National March on Washington in 1987. On the steps of the IRS, she performed an event for ten thousand people during a massive demonstration for human rights and AIDS awareness. Dina has been an outspoken advocate against discrimination and abuse in any form.

 

Before her private practice, Dina was the Administrator for the Director’s Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture Producers and Executive Director for Variety Clubs International. Before coming to California, she was the Motion Picture Coordinator for the City of Phoenix and Mayor Margaret Hance.

 

Dina was a past member of the National Executive Board of Directors of MASA, Mothers Against Sexual Abuse and a past Board Chair of National Organization for Women, and Shanti-Los Angeles. She was the winner of the Los Angeles Community Award for her spiritual contribution and was awarded a special commendation by the City of Los Angeles.

 

In 1982, she founded the non-profit organization, Awakening, and began teaching classes and creating seminars on spiritual empowerment. The heart and soul of Dina’s path has been to help people create healing in their lives through loving connections to spiritual energy, each other and themselves.

 

Dina’s specific request is that those who felt she gave any gift of enlightenment or love, to pay it forward in acts of mentoring, generosity, kindness and love. It was her wish to thank those who danced with her and for all their gifts to her life.