James Hiram Evans

Dr. James Hiram Evans, Jr., passed away peacefully with family by his side on August 25, 2010, at Mount Carmel Senior Living Home, in St. Charles, MO. He is survived by his wife of 11 years, Emily Lewis Evans. Jim was born on December 31, 1918, in Ashland City, Cheatham County, TN, to James Hiram Evans, Sr., and Minnie Lee Carson Evans. Jim graduated from Lewis County (TN) High School in 1937. He received his bachelor’s degree in animal husbandry from the University of Tennessee in 1941 and was immediately inducted into the US Army. He rose to the rank of Captain, ultimately serving as Field Artillery officer in the Headquarters of US Third Army during the command of General George Patton in the European theatre, before receiving an Honorable Discharge in 1945. He married Virginia Raye Nelms of Hohenwald, TN, on September 6, 1946, and enjoyed a devoted 52-year partnership until her death in 1998. Jim applied to and was accepted into the first class of the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine and received his Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine in 1950. He enjoyed a long career providing veterinary care to both large and small animals in St. Charles and surrounding counties before retiring in the late 1980s. In addition, Jim was active in many civic activities, including the American Red Cross, Kiwanis Club and active roles in the Trinity Episcopal Church. Jim served on the St. Charles Board of Education for 14 years, seven of which he served as its President. The Science building on the campus of St. Charles High School is dedicated in his honor. He was active in the Mizzou Alumni Association and the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine boards and committees. Jim always found time for other activities including- tennis, golf, fishing and hunting with family as well as gardening, farming and raising cattle at his Pike County Farm. He also enjoyed ballroom dancing, playing poker with friends, reading, and traveling until blindness from glaucoma slowed him down in the past decade. Throughout his life, Jim took great pleasure from being with family and friends. In addition to his parents and his first wife, Jim was preceded in death by his sister Mary Ellen Priestley. In addition to Emily, he is survived by his brother Robert Carson Evans (Columbia, TN) and sisters Elisabeth Catherine Rice and Virginia Louise Doucette (both of Raleigh, NC), and four children, Linda Hart (Tim) of Charlotte, NC, James H. Evans III (Mary Walendy) of Colorado Springs, CO, Carson Evans (Jean Heath) of LaSalle, CO, and Ellen Wallace (Ronald) of St. Charles, MO. Jim is survived by ten grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren from his first marriage. He is also survived by four step-children and their spouses, step-grandchildren and step-great grandchildren. The family thanks the caring staff of Mt. Carmel and Heartland Hospice for their compassion and care. Please send condolences to the care of Baue or e-mails to Linda Hart at leh3500@gmail.com. The family requests that memorial contributions be made to the Heartland Hospice Memorial Fund, 333 N. Summit Street, Toledo, OH 43604, St. Charles Humane Society, or Federation of the Blind.