JOHN V. EVANS SR.
June 18, 1931-Sept. 29, 2013
MOUNT OLIVE -- John Veron "Bunkie" Evans Sr., 82, died Sunday, Sept. 29, at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Durham.
A funeral service will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 1, at First Baptist Church at 300 N. Chestnut St. in Mount Olive. The Rev. Dr. Dennis Atwood, pastor, will officiate at the service. He will be assisted by the Rev. Russ Evans, pastor of Peace Baptist Church in Calypso and a nephew of Evans.
Interment will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 2 at Devotional Gardens in Warsaw.
The family will receive friends at the church's Christian Life Center on West John Street, across the street from the church, immediately after the funeral service.
Evans was a native of Magnolia in Duplin County, and a graduate of Magnolia High School. He attended Louisburg College in Louisburg for two years before transferring to North Carolina State College in Raleigh from where he was graduated.
He was drafted into the United States Army during the Korean Conflict, and served a tour of duty in France, where he was a military policeman.
After his military service he became an agriculture teacher at Linden High School in Linden in Cumberland County before accepting a teaching position at Pine Forest High School in Fayetteville.
He later left the teaching profession to become a partner with his brother, Darwin Evans, at Evans Abattoir on Bell Avenue in Mount Olive.
In 1969, the abattoir was closed and the brothers began Evans of Mount Olive, a used car business from where he retired.
An avid wood turner, Evans often made decorative wooden bowls, vases and other items that he would donate as door prizes for church events such as the JOY (Just Older Youth) luncheons and give to friends.
He was active in First Baptist Church, where he had held several positions of leadership, including serving as a deacon and treasurer of his Sunday school class. He was a member of the Baptist Men, an organization that does volunteer work for people such as disaster victims, the elderly and handicapped, and that also sponsors various missions.
Evans is survived by four children, John V. "Johnny" Evans Jr. of the home and Vickie E. Tillman, Debbie E. Brewer and Dennis G. Evans all of Mount Olive; three grandchildren, Courtney Brewer of Goldsboro, Tara Tillman of New Bern and Lacy Tillman of Mount Olive; a brother and sister-in-law, Darwin and Dorothea Evans of Mount Olive; two sisters-in-law, Annie Laura Evans of Magnolia and Doris Evans of Greenville; and several nieces and nephews.
Evans was preceded in death by his wife, Evelyn Parker Evans, who died in 1978; his parents, John William Evans and Bertha Batts Evans; a sister, Eldred Evans Wells; and four brothers, Stacy Evans, Ed Evans, Wendell Evans and Harold Evans.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Baptist Men or First Baptist Church, P.O. Box 239, Mount Olive, N.C., 28365.
Funeral arrangements are being handled by Tyndall Funeral Home of Mount Olive.
(Pd)
Published in Obituaries on September 30, 2013 1:49 PM