Eva
Mae LeFevre, Home at Last
Eva
Mae LeFevre passed away at 7:25 a.m. on
Monday, May 18, 2009, at age 91. She had
been hospitalized in April for pneumonia
at which time doctors also discovered
a fractured hip.
Known
as the First Lady of Gospel Music, Eva
Mae LeFevre became the first living woman
to be inducted into the Gospel Music Hall
of Fame in 1978. Ten years later, she
was the first gospel music inductee into
the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. Eva Mae
first began singing and playing the piano
as a young child at her father’s church
in South Carolina. In 1934, she married
Urias LeFevre and began a 40 year journey
leading The Lefevres, which became one
of the most beloved groups in gospel music
history. Eva Mae’s trademark alto voice
and piano artistry became a defining influence
for the LeFevres. The group became staples
on WGST radio, based out of their hometown
of Atlanta, Georgia. They later pioneered
a gospel music television program, The
Gospel Singing Caravan, while touring
as many as 100,000 miles a year across
North America.
After
attempting to retire years ago, Eva Mae
could never walk away from her love for
gospel music. She continued to delight
audiences across North America throughout
her twilight years, both through Gaither
Homecoming appearances and solo concerts.
Today, she has joined her husband in eternity.
Her spirit, her dignity, that flawless
alto voice and contagious laugh, her quick
sense of humor and unshakable faith in
Christ was an inspiration to us all. She
will be sorely missed.
Eva
Mae's pianist, Mark
Fuller , is carrying on her
tradition with his "Lefevre piano
styling" that helps recapture that
legendary sound.

Eva
Mae with her extremely talented pianist,
Mr. Mark Fuller
For a video sample of a recent Eva Mae
concert, click
here to view.
Mark
Fuller began playing piano when he was
7 years old back in 1968. His inspiration
to play the piano came from watching the
LeFevres on television at a very early
age in the mid 60s. Mark was fascinated
and thrilled with Eva Mae's piano style.
Over his lifetime, Mark has studied Eva
Mae's distinctly energetic piano stylings
and has learned to faithfully reproduce
her style so well that many folks have
remarked that it seems they are actually
hearing Eva Mae at her best. Bill Gaither
often calls on Mark to play at his Homecoming
concerts, and his version of the Southern
Gospel classic, "Keep On The Firing Line"
has become an audience favorite everywhere
they go.
Mark
saw Eva Mae for the first time in concert
when he was 10 years old in 1971in Columbus,
GA. Mark became personal friends with
Eva Mae in 1979 and worked behind the
scenes with her until 1998 when he became
her full time pianist. Since then, Mark
has added his singing to the program as
well as his piano playing. Eva Mae shares
the spotlight with pianist Mark Fuller
on her latest 2005 CD Release titled "Safe
In His Arms" on two instrumentals, including
"Keep On The Firing Line," Mark's tribute
to Eva Mae. Mark also adds his voice to
the project by singing "Child of the King".
Mark has recently released his first piano
solo CD entitled "Southern Gospel Piano."
You can click
here to listen to audio clips
from the new CD.
Click
here to learn more about Mark
Fuller.