Evelyn S. Cain; Retired Music Teacher

Evelyn S. Cain, who taught music in the Los Angeles Unified School District for nearly 30 years, has died at a Los Angeles hospital. She was 77.

A resident of Sherman Oaks, Mrs. Cain died Friday of cancer, said her son, Dr. Thomas R. Cain of Woodland Hills.

Born in Rocky Ford, Colo., she earned a bachelor’s degree in music from Bethany College of Fine Arts in Lindsborg, Kan., before coming to California in the early 1950s.

She gave private piano lessons and in 1962 began teaching at Erwin Street School in Van Nuys. Two years later, she moved to Haddon Avenue School in Pacoima, where she taught for 10 years. In the early 1970s, she transferred to Sheridan Street School in Los Angeles, where she continued with her music program.

Mrs. Cain won several awards, including the Apple Award from the Mayor’s Education Advisory Committee in 1980, the BRAVO Award from the Music Center in 1985 and the Outstanding String Teacher Award from the National American String Teachers Assn. in 1990, the year she retired.

In addition to her son, Thomas, she is survived by another son, William T. Cain of Sherman Oaks; brother Dr. Ronald H. Scott of Sullivan, Mo., and five grandchildren. Her husband, Noble Cain, died in 1977.

A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. today at Resurrection Church, 3324 Opal St., Los Angeles. Burial will be Saturday in Rocky Ford, Colo. Forest Lawn Mortuary in the Hollywood Hills is handling the arrangements.