Carl Evans

Carl Evans, 80, passed away October 22, 2017, at Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines, Iowa.

Carl Lee Evans was the name chosen by Denman Carl Evans and bride Georgia Willena Punch on March 30, 1937, for the first born of a family eventually to consist of four boys and three girls. The young couple from Puxico, Missouri, resided in St. Louis, Missouri. Carl attended kindergarten in St. Louis one month before a war job moved the family to Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania, then to Meadville, MO where Carl started first grade. Second grade was in Mehlville, MO where Denman started his chemistry and physics teacher profession. Third grade was at Herculaneum, MO and Okmulgee, OK where Carl graduated from high school and the youngest was born while Carl attended the University of Oklahoma, graduating in 1959. A couple Methodist youth ministry jobs placed him in Pryor then Hugo before he was admitted to Iliff School of Theology in Denver, CO. There he met and married Boonie Virginia Mattern from Columbus, TX who was teaching at Evergreen. A final course there was a three week tour of England (Wesley sites in London), Rome, Athens, Beirut, Damascus, and then Easter in Jerusalem, and finishing in Cairo, Egypt’s King Tut museum and pyramids. Next came fifteen years of ministry in South Dakota Methodism serving eleven towns. 1980 brought Carl to Des Moines for Clinical Pastoral Education study hoping to find a chaplaincy. A tight job market led Carl to real estate sales from 1980-2002.

Carl and Boonie hosted thirteen Youth for Understanding exchange students (5 Brazil, 1 Philippines, 1 Finland, 1 Chile, 1 Sweden, 2 Mexico, and 2 Japan) over the years who resided with them for six or twelve months. Extra travel in three motorhomes covered all 49 states and most of Canada, plus air to Hawaii. Other travel opportunities took them to Brazil, China, Australia and New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Germany to reconnect with exchange students. A couple of trips to Mexico expanded to the Panama Canal and Central America.

Carl volunteered much. Methodism’s Urban mission council put him in a health care group and the homeless coalition. Volunteering as guardian through the county attorney's office led to Woodward Resource Center where he was offered a spot on the human relations committee that met weekly since 1997. In lieu of church work, Carl volunteered at Jordan UMC and Staves UMC as Sunday school teacher for adult classes. Carl had a great love for fishing and enjoyed playing cards, canoeing, and camping.

Carl is survived by his wife, Boonie; siblings, James (Connie) Evans, Margaret Witherspoon, Kathryn (Larry) Fisher, Judy (Larry) Carmack, Richard (Carolyn) Evans, and Marc (Gilda) Evans; ten nieces and six nephews; thirteen foreign exchange children; as well as many other loved ones and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents and brother-in-law, Jack Witherspoon.

Memorial contributions may be made to your favorite charity in Carl’s name.

Condolences may be expressed at:
www.HamiltonsFuneralHome.com

Print