Raymond Evans 1925-2024

He was born Jan. 31, 1925, in Grovesend, Wales, to Thomas J. and Nella Carson Evans. They came to the USA in October 1927 and lived on the south side of Youngstown. Ray was a 1943 graduate of South High School and enlisted in the U.S. Navy soon after. During WWII, he served on the USS Saratoga, and was stationed in Guam and the Mariana Islands as a pharmacist mate.

After the war, he returned to Youngstown to work at Youngstown Steel Door.

In 1948, he married Audrey J. Kirkland. He then changed career paths in 1950 to work at East Ohio Gas Company, where he worked for the next 35 years.

He belonged to church choirs at Indianola Methodist and Boardman Methodist, and sang in the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Chorus.

On Dec. 23, 1984, after 36 years of marriage, his wife Audrey passed away while they were living in Hartville. He remarried years later to Lucille M. Houle. Ray and Lucille moved to Florida, to Arizona, back to Florida, and then in 2020, to Danbury Assisted Living.

Ray was most proud of his service in the Navy and is believed to be the last surviving “Corner Boy” of the South Side of Youngstown.

For 20 years while in Florida, from age 75 to 95, he volunteered at the VA hospital in The Villages before moving back to Ohio. He was in several golf leagues, had two holes-in-one and was voted the best dancer for the Class of 1943.

Ray was preceded in death by his parents; his first wife, Audrey Kirkland Evans; son, Kirk R. Evans, who passed away July 14, 2024; and siblings, Wyndham Evans, Cyril Evans and Nancy Evans Jacobs.

He is survived by his second wife, Lucille M. Evans; daughters, Lynn (Dave) Dunn and Debra (Eddie) Smith; daughter-in-law, Sandra Morgan Evans; stepdaughter, Cheryl (Jack) Schafer; and grandchildren, Dr. Cory D. (Dr. Gulayse) Dunn, Jamie M. (Kelly) Dunn, Eddie Smith, Christian DeAngelis, Shawn (Monica) and Jason (Melanie) Morgan, and Ryan and Tod (Brynne) Schafer; great-grandchildren, Sinan, Evan, Maya and Alex Dunn, Lola and Isabella DeAngelis, Darienne, Jacob, Michael Morgan and Camden, Logan and Lochlyn Schafer.

Special thanks to Cheryl Schafer, who took such great care of him the last four years while at Danbury. We all love you, Dad.

Ray’s wishes were to be cremated and to be laid to rest in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Boardman. There will not be any services for the public.

To share a memory, send a condolence or light a candle, visit Ray’s Tribute Wall at www.billowfuneralhomes.com (Billow Falls Chapel).

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