Obituary of Col William Ashby Evans,, USAF, Jr.

Col William Ashby "Bill" Evans, Jr., USAF (Ret.), 90, died Sunday, May 19, 2019 at the Brookdale Skyline hospice in Colorado Springs, Colorado from pneumonia complications following influenza. Born November 5, 1928 in San Diego, California, the son of William Ashby Evans from Jacksonville Forida and Kura Lee (Broughton) Evans from New Zealand, his early years were spent on Coronado Island. His father was one of the early Naval aviators. In 1947 he graduated from Western High School, D.C., and after a brief enlistment in the Navy, he attended the Naval Academy and graduated class of 1952. Following graduation, he married Patricia "Pat" Raney, daughter of Roy Livingston Raney and Charlotte (Brier) Raney. He had many interesting adventures while in Annapolis and during his early years as an Air Force pilot. Upon his return from the Vietnam war, he was assigned to the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon as a junior officer, followed by an assignment in Maine, they then moved to Spain (Base Commander at Torrejon AFB), then to Ankara, Turkey (TUSLOG) and finally Colorado Springs where he worked at NORAD (ADCOM) before retiring from the Air Force in 1978. Following his military service, he went to work for Ford Aerospace in California for a decade. Upon final retirement, he and his wife Pat lived happily at Siesta Key and in Jacksonville, Florida for many years before returning to Colorado to be closer to their grandchildren.His hobbies included sailing, photography, painting, fishing, and bird dog field trials. One of his life-long passions was gardening. He found gardening in Colorado presented interesting challenges in which he delighted. His other life-long passion was skiing. He enjoyed skiing in New England, Granada Spain, and of course Colorado, skiing every winter weekend through the age of 85. Bill Evans is survived by his wife of 66 years, Pat; sons, Bill Evans, III and Geoff Evans; daughter Mary "Kim" Watson; sister Eleanor "Lee" Evans Willms; many grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, as well as many nieces and nephews. All of whom he loved dearly. Services will be private.