John F. Evritt

John Franklin Evritt strove to save America one letter-to-the-editor at a time. An ardent proponent of conservative values, Mr. Evritt had an avid (and sometimes rabid) following of his letters-to-the-editor which graced the pages of the Indianapolis News and the Indianapolis Star for decades, at times appearing weekly. A man of great determination, he sacrificed greatly to ensure a stable home for his family and provide a solid education for his children. He gave the gift of determination to both his children and grandchildren. His son Roy is a paramedic. Roy and his wife Maureen St. Laurent blessed the Evritt family tree with two sons. Grandson Thomas is a skilled computer technician. His grandson Scott is a Marine recruit and an Eagle Scout. His daughter Kay served in the trenches of public education and currently enjoys retirement with her husband Isham Grover Pruitt, III. Well known for his witty turn of language, Mr. Evritt regaled his family with riddles such as What is a plastic shroud? (Answer for the inquisitive: Final vinyl.) He developed his own system of the alphabet in order to capture the essence of each letter of English with a minimal pen stroke and employed the system in thousands of crossword puzzles, which no one in the world can read except for him.

Mr. Evritt built his own 22-foot houseboat in the 1970’s. The project took three years to complete. With his wife Dorothy, he sailed down the Ohio River, almost to the Mississippi River. He immortalized this accomplishment in an article published in Boating magazine.

Before retiring to Jacksonville, Florida in 1984, he worked for decades for General Motors in Indianapolis. He died at age 95 on March 15, 2020, in Titusville, Florida. He was pre-deceased by his beloved wife Dorothy. A private service for the family has already been conducted.