Jo E. Evans

Jo E. Evans

August 24, 1934 - July 27, 2024

MADISON - Jo E. Evans, age 89, of Madison, passed away on Saturday, July 27, 2024, at Oak Park Place. She was born on Aug. 24, 1934, in Topeka, Kan., the daughter of James and Dulcye (Pierce) Rush.

Jo graduated from Topeka High School in 1952. She graduated from Washburn University in 1956 with a degree in education. In college, she was the Social Chairman at her sorority Zeta Tau Alpha. After college, she became a home economics teacher. She married Charles (Chuck) Evans, the love of her life, on May 19, 1960, in Topeka. She followed him as he moved from teaching music education to becoming an entertainer, traveling around the Midwest to play piano and sing in supper clubs, hotels and restaurant lounges.

When Chuck's agent booked him in the Northland Hotel lounge in Green Bay, Wis., in 1960, the couple moved there and lived in the hotel. In that lounge, Jo and Chuck met many of the Green Bay Packers players and witnessed Coach Lombardi discipline players who were lingering in the lounge after curfew on the eve of gameday. Jo became a lifelong Packers fan. She loved attending Packers and UW Badgers football games and watching NFL football and Milwaukee Brewers games on tv.

In 1962, she and Chuck moved to Madison for a gig at Welch's Embers supper club. Jo enjoyed her work at the Madison YWCA as a youth/teen counselor. She and Chuck wanted to be parents and adopted two daughters - Nikki in 1967 and Ali in 1969. Then in 1972, Jo earned her real estate license and went to work at Century 21 Passport Realty as one of only two women in the office. She was an active real estate agent for a decade then became a manager at Century 21 Affiliated-Simon, mentoring many agents for two more decades. She retired in 2010.

Jo adored dogs and cats and turned many strays into beloved family pets. She enjoyed cooking, baking, gardening, bowling, skiing, watching all sports on tv, and travelling in the family RV. She and Chuck bought a spot at Rock River Leisure Estates campground near Edgerton, Wis., for their RV in the mid 1970s. This beloved spot near the pond became the family's summer home for nearly 50 years as Jo and Chuck made numerous friends, watched both children spend hundreds of hours in the swimming pool, taught kids to drive mopeds then cars within the safety of the park, and delighted in dog playdates in the yard.

Jo is survived by her husband, Charles; daughters, Nicole (Kurt) Studt and Alison (Terry) Evans-Webb; and grandchildren, Ken (Kelsey) Webb, Chris (Jourdan) Webb, Kate Studt and Kai Studt. She was preceded in death by her parents.

A celebration of life will be held at GUNDERSON EAST FUNERAL AND CREMATION CARE, 5203 Monona Drive, Madison, from 3 p.m. until 6 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024.

Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com.

Gunderson East

Funeral & Cremation Care

5203 Monona Drive

(608) 221-5420