Evans, Roland Thomas – 25 Aug 1922

Prominent Malad businessman and banker, Roland Thomas Evans

Roland Thomas Evans, retailer, banker, and loving husband and father passed peacefully to His embrace on Wednesday, May 6, 1999. His life was commemorated at the Pacific View Chapel in Newport Beach, California with family and friends celebrating his living again.

Roland T. Evans was born on August 25, 1922 in Oneida County, Malad City, Idaho, a place he called home, no matter how distant his travel. His was the son of David L. Evans, Jr., and Margaret T. Evans, After high school, he attended the University of Utah, playing football (No. 44) and meeting the love of his life, Dorothy M. Davis. They were married in South Carolina prior to his heading to the European Theater, piloting a B-24 Liberator over the skies of Italy and Germany.

With the end of World War II, Mr. Evans and his family moved to Palo Alto, California where he obtained a Bachelor=s Degree in Economics from Stanford University. Upon graduation, he moved his family to Malad and assumed responsibility for operating the family businesses.

Appointed manager of the Evans Cooperative Company (AThe CO-OP@), the cornerstone of the Evans family retailing, banking and farming operation, Mr. Evans excelled in the retail field, turning the store profitable immediately and maintaining that profitability over the twenty-plus years he served. Mr. Evans also served as a member of the Board of Directors and as President of J.N. Ireland & Company Bankers, and D.L. Evans & Company Bankers, providing his expertise to the loan committees and investment committees for over twenty years.

In Malad, he also served as an officer and member of the Board of Directors of D.L. Evans Farms and was a partner in Evans Brothers. In performing his service to the family business, he took quiet pride in the accomplishments of the organizations he lead, directed the organizations he lead, directed and advised and no matter how, and Sigma Chi Fraternity.

Mr. Evans loved children and became a master of the one-dollar shoe sale. No child who entered the store in need of shoes or cowboy boots ever left without them. Prices dropped immediately and the difference was always tacked onto his personal bill. He welcomed each grandchild into the family, taking each by the hand, introducing them proudly to his close knit world of love. Throughout his life, he maintained his quieted pride, sacrificing his own needs for those of his family, both immediate and distant. His smile and hearty laugh will be remembered, for he always seemed to find the good in everything. He was a good sport, a loving husband, and a caring father.

Survivors include: his wife, Dorothy D. Evans, his children; Annabelle Evans Nye and her husband Blaine F. Nye, Margaret Evans Storch, and Roland T. Evans Jr. and his wife, Terri H. Evans, along with 11 grandchildren and one great-grandson, He is also survived by two brothers, John V. (Lola) Evans Sr., of Burley, and Don S. (Demona) Evans, of Malad, and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, an older brother. David L. Evans and two sisters, Mariemma Evans and Neva Evans.

The family suggests remembrances to the Young Parkinson=s Support Network of California, APDA Young Parkinson=s I & R Center, 1041 Foxenwood Drive, Santa Maria, CA. 93455, telephone: 800-223-9776, 805-934-2216.