J. Claude Evans

Professor Joseph Claude Evans passed away on July 26, 2025, at the age of 79. Born September 28, 1945, to Maxilla Everett Evans and Joseph Claude Evans, Sr., Claude grew up fishing and hopping rocks in the streams of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas. His mother encouraged his appreciation of the natural world while his father, a Methodist minister, taught him to love ideas and to engage in a lifelong search for meaning. These passions shaped his life, weaving themselves into his philosophy, his photography, and his way of relating to the world.

After several years of teaching in Germany and completing his PhD in Philosophy at SUNY Stony Brook, Claude joined the Washington University Department of Philosophy in 1984. Beloved by students and colleagues alike as a professor of existentialism, aesthetics, phenomenology, and environmental ethics, Claude brought his courses to life. Students from departments across the campus would seek out his direction in philosophy as it related to different disciplines. His environmental ethics classes traveled to Yellowstone during spring break to study wolves. During his tenure, he was a valued colleague and mentor, serving for years as the Director of Graduate Studies and playing a vital role in the life of the Department.

As a writer and scholar, his research focused especially upon environmental philosophy, romanticism, and the aesthetics of landscape. He has authored multiple books, including With Respect for Nature: Living as Part of the Natural World and Strategies of Deconstruction: Derrida and the Myth of the Voice. A more recent project focused on philosophy and opera in the 19th Century. Two “Kierkegaardian Interpretations” of Wagner's Tannhäuser appeared in Opera Quarterly.

Claude retired from Washington University, assuming emeritus status, in 2020, an event which forced him to part with many of the books that had previously filled his office from floor to ceiling. The pain of letting them go was alleviated only by the joy and relief he felt in finding new, loving homes for each tome he relinquished.

For 32 years, he was married to Jill Evans Petzall. Together, they traveled the world, visiting India, France, Thailand, Spain, Laos, Singapore, Cambodia, Portugal, the UK, Italy, Germany, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Ecuador. They shared a love of purposive beauty, and he could often be found moving plants and rocks around in their backyard haven as Jill refined her vision of paradise. They supported and critiqued each other in their creative endeavors, reading their work aloud to one another for comment and conversation. They co-hosted fabulous dinner parties in their beautiful home, crackling with laughter and conversation.

Although Claude and Jill met in mid-life, when she already had three grown children, he quickly became an inextricable part of the family. He taught his grandkids to fish, grill and smoke meats, and fed them mini quiches for breakfast. He taught them to pay attention to nature, and to take their time appreciating trees and rocks from every angle. He took them to ride horses through Canyon de Chelly, as well as to jazz clubs and to the theater. He welcomed their partners with warmth and wine and family dinners. They called him Puddie, and in their hearts, he was their grandfather.

He spent his retirement devotedly caring for Jill. In the last years of her life, when debilitating chronic pain confined her to bed and him to a caregiver’s role. His words to her were, “I get to be a part of this. It’s my privilege.” Despite being an excellent cook himself, when his wife could no longer stand, he patiently followed her directions, knowing how much she missed being the creator of family meals. His devotion to Jill, motivated by a true, fierce, bottomless adoration, has shaped the way his family thinks about love.

Claude was endlessly kind and patient. A brilliant and accomplished man, he remained quiet about his accomplishments, letting others take center stage. He loved red wine and good beer. No meal at his table ended until ice cream had been served. He was equally passionate in front of a classroom, as in a stream, flyfishing. He was an avid cyclist whose cycling group became lifelong friends. It was impossible to reference a book he had not read. He took great pleasure in wielding a perfect kitchen knife. He had a deep, resonant voice; he sang with the Central Reform Congregation choir, and even when singing happy birthday, he sang a harmony part. He adored his dog, Jack, and called out for him with his last words.

Claude is survived by his sister, Sara Evans (Charles Dayton); his brothers, Robert Evans (Lisa) and John Evans; his nephew Craig Boyte and niece Jae Ramirez; his stepchildren, Julie Simpher (Jeff), Jenny Petzall, and Guy Petzall (Sarah); his grandkids Jamie, Jacob, Jasper, Ben, Kepler, and Kaya; as well as his beloved dog, Jack; and an enormous chosen family.

Services will be private. In lieu of flowers, if you want to honor Claude, consider a contribution to the Nature Conservancy or the International Wolf Center.