Roland James Evans

Roland James Evans of Summerlin, Las Vegas, Nevada passed away Sunday morning, October 15, 2017. Roland was born on June 25, 1942 in Peoria, Illinois and grew up in Bartonville, Illinois. He attended Oak Grove Grade School and graduated from Limestone Community High School in 1961. Roland married his highschool sweetheart, Jimmi Fairhurst, that same year. They began a family the next year and had two children together. Roland was a journeyman electrician and a member of the IBEW for forty-four years, retiring in 2005. He worked large commercial and industrial projects including power plants, high rise buildings, and manufacturing facilities all over the U.S., including work on Trans-Alaska Pipeline pump stations north of the Arctic Circle. Recognizing a need for a more efficient and precise way to make bends in conduit, Roland invented the Reciprocal Conduit Bender, a mechanical bender for simultaneously making two reciprocal, offset bends in an electrical conduit. He was issued a patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on June 29, 1993. Roland and Jimmi started a successful business in 1993, Evans Benders, in which they manufactured and sold Evans Conduit Benders to the electrical trade until they sold the business in 2005. Roland was an avid golfer his entire life, having played on his high school team, and placed in several amateur tournaments through the years. Roland and Jimmi retired to Sun City in 2014 where Roland could spend every day on the course, which he often did, whether playing a round, or just hitting balls with friends and testing custom clubs he made. Roland was a respected hunter of the highly prized and elusive morel mushroom, long studying, searching for, and perfecting its preparation for his family. He discovered a 9 ounce morel in 1986 which placed him in the Schooners “Mushroom Hall of Fame.” Roland was a faithful Cubs fan, and shed tears of joy when they finally won the World Series last fall. In April, 1984 he wrote a poem entitled “A Cub Fan’s Devotion,” which was read live on the air by Harry Caray that year. Roland enjoyed restoring cars, remodeling homes, and fishing when he could. In 1968, while adventuring outdoors, he uncovered a 10,000 year old mastodon tusk in Peoria, verified by the Illinois State Museum. In retirement Roland especially delighted in spending time with his grandsons, his buddies. Roland will be remembered as a fun, loving, and helpful man. He had an independent spirit, enjoyed the simple things, and tried to live life to its fullest, right up to the very end. Just this summer he went white water rafting, rock jumping in the McKenzie River, and watched the solar eclipse from the top of Mt. Bachelor. Roland was loved deeply by his family, and enjoyed by his friends for the character that he was. Roland is survived by his heartbroken family, including his son Ty Evans of Indiana, his daughter Staci Evans Plumleigh and grandsons George and James Plumleigh of Oregon, his mother Dorothy Fultz Evans of Illinois, brother Terry Evans of Illinois, and brother Brian Evans, of Washington. He is preceded in death by his beloved wife, Jimmi Evans, who passed earlier this year, father Robert S. Evans, and sister Nancy Evans Kelly. Visitation will be held from 1:00 - 2:00 p.m., with funeral services to follow from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 28, 2017 at Palm Mortuary, 7400 W. Cheyenne Ave., Las Vegas, NV 89129.