John Roger Evans
Born in India to Dr. Eugene and Jo Evans, who were medical missionaries there, Roger and his brother Dave grew up in the milieu of idyllic Vengurla, a coastal village South of Bombay.
At six years, he began boarding at the multicultural, international Kodaikanal School, in the beautiful hill station of Kodai in South India. At 16, Roger graduated from high school, and traveled alone by ship to the United States to avoid conscription in the British Army. In the United States, Roger attended Williston Academy in Massachusetts, spending summers with family in rural Ohio.
After a few years in the Army, he attended Oberlin College, graduating in 1948, and completed Medical School at Case Western Reserve in 1952.
Roger worked his way through college by washing pots and pans in the refectory, and played ping-pong to stay awake. He contemplated the advice of a professor who suggested that medical school would be so challenging that he should choose a summer job that “scared the hell out of him” enough so that he would return to the relative calmness of school each fall! Roger heeded this advice and hitchhiked west to Missoula, Montana where he became a smoke jumper, fighting forest fires each summer of medical school.
Roger interned in Salt Lake City in 1953, and completed his surgical residency at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Seattle. There he met the Norwegian goddess, Randi Andreassen, a Registered Nurse at the hospital. They married in 1955, honeymooning in Sun Valley, Idaho where they returned for their anniversary many times. Roger and Randi became householders in South Seattle; Roger set to work in Burien where his general surgery practice flourished for 39 years until his retirement in 1991.
Roger and Randi raised their family in Burien: Jody (David Smith), Timothy (Mary), Peter (Melissa), and Nancy (Dennis Strickland) all still reside in the Seattle area. And now, there are six grand children: Perry, Hannah, Jack, Spencer, Beatrix, and Jocelyn. As soon as the last of the grandchildren were born, Roger and Randi left the state…. to take up residency near Sandpoint, Idaho. Many road trips to “Camp Idaho” were enjoyed by the three generations.
Roger was an avid outdoorsman, once commenting: “the forest is my cathedral.” He found great joy in the woods, and never missed an opportunity for hiking, climbing, skiing, exploring, or just taking the road less traveled. He also enjoyed photography, tennis, boating, and travel. He impressed upon all of us the importance of leaving the world a better place than we found it, and showed us by his example, the importance of kindness and compassion to all. He strongly believed in the principle of “paying it forward.”
In his retirement years, Roger helped build a bike trail near Sandpoint, worked on houses for Habitat for Humanity, and enjoyed a regular volunteer job helping children learn to read at a local elementary school. He passed peacefully at home surrounded by his family, recounting stories of his lusty passion for life, his love of community, family and friends. The Evans family wishes to thank Bonner Community Hospice for their exceptional, loving care. No service is planned at this time.