Christopher Jon "Chris" Evans

1959 - 2016

October 28, 1959 -

December 19, 2016

He was a husband and a father, a brother and a son.

He was that quirky and creative schoolteacher you read about in The Register-Guard over the years, the one who got famous folks like Hillary Clinton and Al Gore, Spike Lee and Magic Johnson, to pose with his 30-pound, 65-million-year-old dinosaur bone.

But the life of Chris Evans, of Eugene, who died Dec. 19 of liver cancer, included much more. His persistence and enthusiasm for life were infectious.

He was an avid basketball fan, a fun-loving Kidsports coach and a talented drummer who taught dozens of kids to water-ski over the past 30 years during his beloved annual trips to Crescent Lake.

Nothing, though, was dearer to Chris than his wife, Dayna, and his children: Katie, 20, and Thomas, 14.

He was born on Oct. 28, 1959, in Fayetteville, N.C., to Mary Gail Evans Wallen and H. Thomas Evans. Shortly after Chris was born, the family moved back to Oregon where he and younger sister, Stacey, grew up in their College Hill home. Chris graduated from South Eugene High and later earned a degree from Western Oregon University.

He started working at age 10 delivering the R-G. The owner of Bob's Hamburgers was so impressed by his work ethic that he told Chris he had a job waiting for him as soon as he could get his work permit at age 14. That led to a job as supervisor at Bob's while he was still in high school and many other restaurant jobs around town. He later honed his bartendering skills and was able to flip bottles and pour drinks in a "Cocktail"-like style to the delight of his customers.

Chris met the beautiful Dayna Thomas around this time, wooed her, and they were married on Sept. 21, 1985.

Chris coached many of Katie's Kidsports' teams and also coached Thomas in basketball and encouraged his pursuit of gymnastics. He was a proud and vocal supporter of both of his children's activities and accomplishments and was thrilled when Katie was accepted to UC Berkeley.

Chris captured the imaginations of scores of students over the years and was paramount in bringing back the Outdoor School program at Camas Ridge Elementary.

Chris's friends and family will also remember him for leading The Lucys in the annual Eugene Celebration parade, his canny ability to get to the front of the line, his spot-on impersonations and his undying, irreverent sense of humor.

Survivors include his wife, Dayna Thomas Evans; children: Kathryn "Katie" Evans and Thomas Evans; his mother and stepfather, Mary Gail Evans Wallen and Ray Wallen, all of Eugene; and sister and brother-in-law, Stacey Evans Burkhart and Paul Burkhart, of Portland. He was preceded in death by his father, Tom, who died earlier in 2016.

Please join us for a remembrance service at 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 8, at Temple Beth Israel, 1175 E 29th Ave., in Eugene.