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Betty S. Evans © Enid News and Eagle 09-14-2018 Submitted by: Glenn
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May 06, 1947 - September 13, 2018
Betty S. Evans, wife of James D. Evans, passed from this life on September 13, 2018, at her home. She was born to Ruben and Agnes Schmidt on May 6, 1947 in Weatherford, Oklahoma.
Betty loved the Lord with all her heart and wanted everyone to share in that salvation.
James and Betty married on May 30, 1978 and had a blended family of seven children. As part of their wedding vows they read Ruth 1:16-17: "Your people will be my people and your God will be my God, where you die I will die and there I will be buried."
They lived everyday by this promise and created a family bond that has remained unbroken. She loved her children and her grandchildren and took great joy in watching them grow up.
Betty was a wonder in the kitchen, an amazing cook and an incredible seamstress. She enjoyed traveling, gardening and being a caring friend. She was an active member of multiple prayer groups both in Enid and the many years she and Jim spent on Marco Island, Florida where they had a winter home. Betty was a founding and active member of Westminster Presbyterian Church. She was also an active member of PEO Chapter Q.
Betty is survived by her husband James D. Evans; six children and their spouses, Greg and Bonnie Evans, Sally and Dave Dayton, Robert and Michelle Evans, Denise and Curtis Tucker, Joseph and Krista Evans, Steve and Kayelyn Appling, 23 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Other survivors include her sister, Alnita McCarthy, brother and wife, Howard and Loretta Schmidt, her sister-in-law Sally Baker, brother-in-law and wife, Samuel and Sandy Evans.
She was preceded in death by her father and mother, her father-in-law, Wilfred Evans, her mother-in-law, Lillian Evans, her daughter, Jamie Lopez, brother-in-law Terrance McCarthy and brother-in-law Richard Baker.
The Funeral service Celebrating and Honoring the life of Betty will be held 10:00 A.M. Monday September 17, 2018, in the Enid Mennonite Brethren Church. Burial will follow in the Memorial Park Cemetery.
A family visitation will be held from 2:00 P.M - 4:00 P.M. Sunday September 16, 2018, in the Brown-Cummings Funeral Home.
Memorials in her name made be made to the YWCA-Crisis Center, the Bungoma Bible School, and the Westminster Presbyterian Church Building Fund, with Brown-Cummings Funeral Home serving as custodian of the funds.
Condolences to the family may be made online at WWW.Brown-Cummings.com.
James D. Evans © Enid News and Eagle 02-01/03-2021 Submitted by: Glenn
© Enid News and Eagle
September 29, 1939 - January 29, 2021
The funeral services celebrating and honoring the life of James D Evans "Jim", 81, of Enid will be held at 11:00 A.M. Wednesday February 3, 2021 in the Emmanuel Enid Church with Pastor Wade Burleson officiating. The graveside services will follow in the Memorial Park Cemetery. Services are under the direction of Brown-Cummings Funeral Home and will be streamed on www.Emmanuelenid.org and on the Brown-Cummings Funeral Home Facebook page.
Jim was reunited with his beloved wife Betty on January 29, 2021 at his home in Enid Oklahoma with his family by his side. He was born to Wilfred and Lillian Evans on September 29, 1939 in Enid Oklahoma. Jim attended Westminster College and The University of Oklahoma where he was also a Phi Delt. His love for the University of Oklahoma continued throughout his life. Jim was married to Flora Beth Cassody and had five children. On May 30, 1978 Jim married Betty Schmidt who had two children.
Jim is survived by this blended family that includes Greg and Bonnie Evans, Sally and Dave Dayton, Robert and Michele Evans, Denise and Curtis Tucker, Joseph and Krista Evans, Steve and Kayelyn Appling, 23 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren. Other survivors include his sister, Sally Baker, brother Samuel and wife Sandy Evans.
He is preceded in death by his father and mother Wilfred and Lillian Evans, his daughter Jamie Lopez and brother-in-law Richard Baker.
Jim enjoyed traveling and vacation time in Marco Island Florida where he had a winter home and summers in Minnesota at a family cabin on Deer Lake. One of his other loves was to fly as he held his pilots license for many years. During his life he was a member of the Grand National Quail Club and an active member of Rotary Club of Enid. His hobbies included snow skiing, playing softball, tennis and golf.
During his career Jim was the president and CEO of Evans Drug Corporation founded by his Grandfather Samuel B Evans PHAR in 1897. During his tenure he expanded the company to 8 locations within the state. He was also the The chairman for Affiliated/Associated drugstores during 1989-1990. He was a lifelong member of Oakwood Country Club.
During his retirement Jim and Betty loved traveling the country in their motor coach making new friends wherever they went. He served as a Deacon, Elder, and Trustee of the First Presbyterian Church of Enid Oklahoma. Jim was a founding and active member of the Westminster Presbyterian Church.
Above all of his accomplishments, Jim was most proud of his family, finding true joy in being a dedicated father and grandfather.
Memorials in his name may be made to Westminster Presbyterian Church and the YWCA Crisis Center of Enid with Brown-Cummings funeral home serving as custodian of the funds.
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‘A mover and a shaker’: Family, friends reflect on memories with Jim Evans
By Kelci McKendrick
Enid News & Eagle
Husband. Supportive. Father. Provider. Patient. Boss. Innovative. Hardworking. Friend. Christian. Generous. Respected. Tender-hearted. These words are just a handful of the things James “Jim” Evans was to his family, friends and the community of Enid.
Evans, a longtime and involved resident of Enid and former president and CEO of Evans Drug Center, died Jan. 29, but his memory and legacy will continue on as he is remembered by his family, friends and former employees.
His son Steve Appling best described him by saying though he worked hard, he always made time for those he cared about.
“Even if it was three o’clock in the middle of the workday, and we had a baseball game, you’d see him drive up at the last minute just so he could watch you play, and then he’d be back in the car and then back down to the office,” Appling said. “He just made that time to do that kind of stuff.”
Evans accomplished a lot during his 81 years on Earth. He was born in Enid, and he married Flora Beth Cassody and had five children: Jamie, Greg, Sally, Robert and Joseph. In 1978, he married Betty Schmidt, who had two children of her own: Steve and Denise. The blended family grew up together, and
See ‘A MOVER AND A SHAKER’, Page A6
James “Jim” Evans
‘A MOVER AND A SHAKER’
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they each have fond memories together and with Evans.
Doug Frantz has been a friend of Evans since about 1970, but their families go way back — they even have the same great-grandmother, Frantz said.
“(Evans was) a good friend and a lot of fun,” Frantz said. “I had lunch with him from time to time and always enjoyed his friendship.”
Evans Drug Corp. was founded in 1897 by Evans’ grandfather Samuel Evans and his brothers Charlie and Nate. Evans began working there alongside his father Wilfred Evans in 1959, taking over as CEO and president in 1984 or 1985 before retiring and selling his side of the store to his partner Kyle Whitehead in 2015.
Whitehead began working at Evans Drug Center as a partner in 2000, doing a “handshake deal in the parking lot” and helping the business evolve over the years with Evans. Whitehead said he couldn’t have asked for a better partner in Evans and that he learned a lot from him.
“He and I would disagree on things, and then several months later, I would typically find out he was the one that was correct,” Whitehead said with a chuckle. “His life experiences sure played in helping me grow as a businessman and as a person. He was one of those types of partners. He was the good sounding board, always kept things in perspective, and then became, beyond partners, just a good friend.”
Though Evans left Evans Drug Center and Whitehead took over, their relationship never changed. Whitehead said he found comfort and security knowing his former partner was always a phone call away.
“We would still go to lunch, we would talk, you know, talk business,” Whitehead said. “He would call occasionally and just check up on me, and I would bounce ideas off him … With him passing, there’s a little bit of, ‘Huh, who am I going to ask now?”
Ruth Buller, a former employee of Evans Drug Center, started out as an assistant manager at Evans Drug Center’s Westgate Shopping Center location in 1988, going up in the ranks to become the general manager of the store at 1006 W. Willow in 2003.
“I worked for (Evans Drug Center) for 28 years ... (Evans) was the best boss I ever had,” Buller said. “Jim had a lot of long-term employees. It was not unusual for his employees to be there for 25, 30 years … That says a lot about the company, about the way that Jim ran the business and the type of boss he was that he could maintain his employees for that length of time.”
She not only considered Evans her employer but one of her dearest friends. She went on business trips for Evans Drug Center and traveled a lot with Evans and his wife Betty, but one of the most memorable trips for Buller was whenever she had to fly to Philadelphia — it was her first time flying, right after 9/11.
“He said, ‘I’m going to send you to Philadelphia,’ and I’m going, ‘Uh, what?’” Buller said. “The thought that went through my mind was, ‘Do I tell him that I’ve never been on an airplane? Do I tell him that I don’t want to fly?”
Buller didn’t tell Evans and never did, but she said that trip ended up being “awesome.” She said Evans was the one who always told her, “You can do it.”
“I appreciated every year that I got to work with him,” Buller said. “He was just a fantastic boss, a fantastic man — I just couldn’t say enough good things about him.”
Whitehead said Evans was never afraid of change when it came to the business.
“I talked about putting in a home-infusion pharmacy in the back, and I went into his office, and we sat there and talked about it. The next morning, he is in the back of the building with his tape measure out and has a couple of our employees moving stuff out, and he was already starting to build it, and we were just in the talking stages, but that just exemplifies who he is ... He wasn’t a talker — he was a doer.”
All of Evans’ kids even worked the store, inheriting his work ethic — ironically telling his daughter Denise Tucker that she needed to not work so hard, which his kids laughed about.
Curtis Tucker, owner of Enid Buzz, actually met his wife through Evans and Betty — their daughter Denise. Tucker worked for Evans Drug Center as an advertising director for around 10 years after moving to Enid from Oklahoma City to take the job.
“If it wasn’t for Jim and Betty, I wouldn’t be up in Enid,” Tucker said. “I did an ad, they said, ‘You gotta put the sales batch in the computer,’ and I said, ‘OK, what’s a sales batch, and what’s a computer?’ So they helped me to turn on a computer, and without that, I would have never gotten into computers, the internet, all the things that I did, so basically, everything that I have today is due to Jim Evans.”
Denise had told Tucker that she wouldn’t date him since he worked with her dad, so Tucker got Evans’ approval, and they’ve been married for almost 23 years now.
“He was the best father-in-law ever,” Tucker said. “He just did everything for us. Anytime we needed anything, he was always there to help out — he and Betty.”
Betty went along with Evans on some of his business trips, and he even brought his kids during their senior years in high school, taking them to places such as Chicago and New York City.
“He took advantage of those opportunities with his kids — one-on-one time with each of us,” Appling said.
The family took many trips to Marco Island, Fla., to their winter home and to Minnesota in the summers, where they had a cabin on Deer Lake, where they would ride on a jet ski and a sailboat, build puzzles together, go fishing and then host fish fries — things the kids all remember as good memories, and even as they got older, they would bring their own families out to visit Evans and Betty at the Florida and Minnesota homes.
Evans also was a man of faith, his daughter Sally Dayton said. He was a deacon, elder and trustee of First Presbyterian Church, where he attended for many years with Frantz, and Frantz said Evans and Betty often would host Bible studies at their house. He also was a founding and active member of Westminster Presbyterian Church.
“He was quite involved in Enid’s community,” Frantz said. “He was mover and a shaker.”
Appling said of everything his father was — a member of Grand National Quail Club, Oakwood Country Club and Enid Rotary Club, a licensed pilot, a golfer, a businessman, a friend, a traveler, a Christian and so much more — “dad” was how he best remembered him.
“There are fathers out there that are sometimes in their kids’ lives, there are fathers that are present a lot of the times, but then there are dads,” he said, “and dads are people that are there for their kids, are always available, are loving on them, taking care of them — he was a dad.”
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