Leo Evans

Leo Bruce Evans, 87, passed away at 5:15 a.m. on Feb. 3, 2011, at Montana Veterans Home in Columbia Falls. He was a beloved son, brother, husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather, uncle, cousin, friend and mentor.

Leo was born in Butte on Jan. 16, 1924, to Troy and Leone Evans and spent his childhood sharing adventures with his many “Evans” cousins and friends. Leo started working when he was eight selling magazines door to door — Life, Ladies Home Journal and Gentleman’s Quarterly. He was a common sight, riding his bike with a pack of friendly dogs at his side and amusingly recounted that Gentleman’s Quarterly was a hard sell in Butte during the 1930s.

Leo’s dad, Troy, was a well respected boxing coach, and Leo and his older brother Jay were prize students, although Leo enjoyed the outdoors more. He enjoyed fishing and was an award-winning speed skater. He started his life-long love with downhill skiing on a pair of skis fashioned in wood shop, probably with staves from a whiskey barrel.

Driving back from an ice cream cone “run” to Anaconda in 1941, he and his childhood friend, Lona Lee Hoyem, heard the radio announcement from President Roosevelt that Pearl Harbor had been bombed.

Leo finished high school, joined the Army in 1942 and went on active duty in 1943. After fighter pilot training, he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant. Then, as Lona Lee told it, “He found me at my high school locker, pinned his wings on my sweater and strode off to war. I never thought I’d see him again.”

Leo finished advanced training in Hawaii and was sent with the 78th Fighter Squadron to a forsaken little Pacific Island called Iwo Jima. He was 19 years old. The island was not secure, and the pilots endured night raids involving hand-to-hand combat with the ensconced Japanese.

Flying the fabled P51 Mustang (named “Wee Lona Lee”) as the Commander’s wing man, Leo flew the first and last flight over Japan and dozens in between. He was awarded the Air Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Pacific Ribbon with two Bronze Stars, American Theater Ribbon, Victory Medal and obtained the rank of 1st Lieutenant.

He returned to Butte and married Lona Lee Hoyem in October 1945. They had nine children and lost one, Lona Lee, in infancy. Nothing was more important to them than their children — those “Evans Kids” who they successfully guided into adulthood and their own stories.

Their move to Kalispell in 1956 began a 50-year legacy of contribution and service to the Flathead Valley. Leo was active in service and community clubs and spent many years as a salesman of office equipment and real estate, but he will be most fondly remembered for the iconic Leo’s Lazy Lion Drive-In.

During the 20-plus years of “Leo’s,” he and Lona Lee mentored countless young women and created memories that still bring nostalgic looks to the face of anyone who every ate or worked there. “I was a Leo’s girl” is a proud claim to this day.

Leo and Lona helped found the Flathead Lake Protection Association that continues its work to protect the quality of the water basin.

Leo’s childhood love for skiing burned bright on Big Mountain, where for more than 40 years, any day skiing was a good day. Ever wonder how the run Evans Heaven was named? Now you know. He ensured he and his children always had ski passes by repairing the office equipment in trade. He was insatiably curious about how things worked and could fix anything — skills he taught his children. In his later days, he remarked, “I taught a lot of kids how to do a lot of things.”

Leo was a charmingly happy man who seized every day as a gift and treated everyone he met with a dazzling smile, hand shake and sincere compliment. His word was his bond. His children remember his mental challenges at the nightly dinner table, ice cream, popcorn, drive-in movies, countless trips to surrounding lakes for log-rolling and rock-skipping contests, hot dogs over a camp fire, skating at Woodlawn Park and, of course, skiing.

He was known to spontaneously leap in the air, click his heels three times and yell “whooppee” — just happy to be alive.

Leo was preceded in death by his parents, brother and beloved wife of 65 years, Lona Lee and their infant daughter, Lona Lee.

He is survived by their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren: Lexie Mae Evans; Troy Evans and his wife Heather McLarty; Cly F. Evans, his wife Charlotte Streit and daughters, Grace and Emma; Jill Evans and her husband John Owen, their children Jennifer, Jessica and James, his wife Michele and daughters, Emily and Ashley; Jay T. Evans; Todd D. Evans and his wife Kanako Matsumoto and son Shingo Evamoto; Katryn and her husband David Perry and their children Joshua, Ruth and Joseph; and Leo Bruce Evans Jr., his wife Dawn and their son Jay.

Cremation has occurred, a celebration of Leo’s life will occur later this summer.

Memorials may be sent to Flathead Lake Protection Association, P.O. Box 679, Lakeside MT 59929.

To view Leo’s guest book and add memories, visit online at www.jgfuneralhome.com.