Edward Laverne EVANS

EVANS, HANSON, HUMPHRY, JACKSON, TURNER, BENIK, BROOKS, HOWELL

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 6/1/2008 at 23:13:03

Aug. 25, 1920 — May 11, 2008

Edward Laverne Evans, 87, of Longmont, died May 11, 2008, at Beatrice Hover Assisted Living Residence. He was born August 25, 1920, on a farm east of Dows, Iowa, to Edward I. and Gunel (Hanson) Evans. Ed graduated from Dows High School in 1938 and from Upper Iowa University with a B.S. degree in Business in 1946. He served in the U.S. Navy and was honorably discharged at the rank of Chief Petty Officer.

Ed married Mary Frances Humphry on May 22, 1943, in Cocoa, Florida. Ed loved baseball from early childhood and became a pitcher. He led the Dows Tigers to a championship season his senior year in 1938 and was named as pitcher to the Iowa State High School first team. Ed attended Upper Iowa University in Fayette following high school graduation. He spent the summer months between terms playing baseball for semi-pro baseball teams. Ed began his career as a pitcher and outfielder in the Southern Minnesota League from 1939 to 1941. On June 2, 1941, while playing for Waseca, Minnesota, he pitched a no-hit, no-run game against Faribault, Minnesota, and was honored in the Southern Minnesota Baseball Hall of Fame for this feat. Baseball and college were interrupted by World War II in August 1942. Ed was discharged in December 1945 and returned to school in January 1946. After completing his college degree on the GI Bill, Ed worked for his father-in-law R. W. Humphry as a hardware merchant in West Union, Iowa, until 1964, when the family moved to Longmont. Ed retired from the City of Longmont as City Treasurer in 1986.

He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Florence, Arizona, and formerly was a member of First United Methodist Church in Longmont and the United Methodist Church in West Union. He was a member of the American Legion and the Chamber of Commerce in West Union. Ed enjoyed his family, baseball, golf and yard work, and was always happy to sit down and visit over a cup of coffee.

He was preceded in death by his parents, brothers and sisters; his son-in-law James P. Jackson Jr.; and his wife Mary on November 6, 2007. Survivors include three daughters, Cynthia Jackson of Tucson, Arizona, Carol Turner and her husband Joseph of Longmont, and Barbara Benik and her husband Richard of Lakewood; a son, David Evans of Eugene, Oregon; three grandchildren, Alexandra Brooks and her husband William of Tucson, Christine Howell and her husband Roger of Johnstown, and Monica Benik of Lakewood; and two great-grandchildren, Jacob and Emma Leigh Howell of Johnstown.

No services will be held. Cremation has taken place at Ahlberg Funeral Chapel and Crematory. Memorial contributions may be made to HospiceCare of Boulder and Broomfield Counties; to First Presbyterian Church in Florence, AZ; or to First United Methodist Church in Longmont and sent to Ahlberg Funeral Chapel, 326 Terry St., Longmont, CO 80501.

Daily Times-Call, Longmont, Colorado
May 18, 2008