It is with great sorrow that we announce the passing of Clifford Jessie Evans, a very special man, also known by friends as CJ or Mr. E. He was born on May 3, 1923 in Sayre, Oklahoma to Roy & Maggie May (Blackburn) Evans, & passed away on January 31, 2022, surrounded by family, in Waco, Texas at a proud 98 years old.
Graveside Service: Tuesday, February 15 at 2pm. Oak Grove Cemetery.
His family moved from Oklahoma to California in the early 30’s, during the great depression. He had the largest newspaper route in Los Angeles thru his teenage years & enlisted the help of his sisters to help roll newspapers for him. He went to Lincoln High in Los Angeles & dropped out at an early age to help support his family. Thereafter he went to work in the shipyards as a welder & in 1942, married his childhood sweetheart & love of his life, Lillian Jerry Furlong. The following year, he enlisted in the army, serving 3 years in the South Pacific during World War II, assigned to the 4th Brigade of the 544th Amphibious Engineers & had the very unusual job of procuring fresh, purified water for the troops. After the war, he immediately went to work building homes & after a few years, went to work for a company in the pipeline industry, after his work ethic caught the attention of a man who had a manufacturing plant & needed someone to run it. He always believed in catering to his customers & getting them whatever they needed, before they even realized they needed it & his customers appreciated him for his outstanding customer service.
He later purchased that California company, known as Jetco, & opened branches in Dallas, Texas (Dallas-Jetco) & Claremore, Oklahoma (Tulsa-Jetco). They sold various types of trenching machines & parts that were manufactured in their plants, to pipe liners all over the world. In the early 70’s, he decided to sell the business & retire to his ranch in Valley Mills, Texas. He immensely enjoyed running all the heavy equipment on the ranch to build roads & dig waterlines. He never slowed down & always wanted to be doing something new. He was instrumental in assisting many people build their first home & assisted many others with their businesses. He volunteered a lot of his time in helping people & enjoyed every minute until the day he died. He will be dearly missed by his family & the many friends, whose lives he touched.
Along with his parents, he was preceded in death by his loving wife of 57 years, his infant son; Clifford Jessie Evans, Jr.; sons, Garry Lee Evans & William Joe (Joey) Evans; granddaughter, Rhonda Renee Evans; great-granddaughter, Devon De La Rosa; infant sister, Clintavie; sisters, Frances Neal & husband JC, Dorothy Simpson & husband Walter, & Geraldine Gadd & husband Kal.
He is survived by three daughters, Charlotte Kretzmeier Harlan & husband, Larry of Laguna Park, Elena Kay Evans of Red Oak, Pandora Leigh Evans of North Carolina; son, Stephen Kelley Evans of Valley Mills; grandchildren, Vonda Blume & husband, Michael of Arlington, Boots Kretzmeier & wife, Kerri of Valley Mills, Christi Hillin & husband, Wesley, of China Spring, & Larry, Dashelle, & Curtis Horton, all of Red Oak; great-grandchildren, Ashlee, Mychael, Cristofer, & Alissah Blume of Arlington, Myka Aguilar of Arlington, Kenzie, Court, & Merritt Kretzmeier of Valley Mills & Carson & Lilly Hillin of China Spring; great-great grandsons, Jab Ford & Xavior Wulf Blume of Arlington & many other dear relatives & friends.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests a donation to your favorite charity, if you so desire.
Place of Service: Wortham Bend Cemetery , 614 Oak Grove Loop; China Spring, TX 76633
Print Obituary & Condolences
Dear Evans family, The Baylor Scott and White Waco Hospice family would like to give you our deepest condolences with our thoughts and prayers! It is our honor to be a part. We still care and we are still here for you! God bless you!
Thank you to all you who cared for our father.
I am so proud to be a part of his family.
He once told me a story of his plane having engine trouble and landing on Hwy 75 or 77 north of Dallas. He had recently sold the plane to a friend, when they had the trouble, CJ told his friend he had better take over since he had more experience with the plane.
I always enjoyed his stories, and he had a lot of them.
I remember driving up one day and he was welding on the roof of his new shop. He had to of been around 80 at that time. What an amazing man.
I will keep him in our daughter’s memories.
Thank you, Wesley. He enjoyed sharing stories of his life. So glad he shared some with you.
I enjoyed our relationship always, his accomplishments in life were overwhelming. We were both pilots and enjoyed many times swapping stories.I’m 81 and he showed me their is a wonderful life after 80. I’m a better person because of CJ and I will definitely miss him.
Rick Fields
Thank you, Mr. Fields. My dad enjoyed spending time with you & your wife & sharing stories with y’all.
Sending prayers to his family. He was an
awesome man! And a great friend.
Thank you, Shirley.
Mr Evans (CJ) always made you or your project his top priority! He is the man that taught me to problem solve and to be a leader without saying a word. This great man still to this day lead by example!!
My family as a whole will forever love and respect our memories with him!!
Me and my family will always have sweet memories of the time you shared with us!
Thank you Charlie & Nora. My dad enjoyed seeing y’all doing so well.
I owe so much to Mr. E he did so much for me I can’t imagine being where I am with out his help Thanks Mr.E I will always remember you. To the Family you are in prayers Aaway’s
Thank you, Leslie. You were very special to my dad. He thought alot of you, also.
What a wonderful person and friend. Cliff and my mom became good friends many years ago and remained friends up until my mom passed . This is how we met. We would visit over the phone and he would tell me of his ventures over the years , what a full life Cliff lived . I was honored to meet Cliff at Sam’s about a year ago…He will be missed but never forgotten…Our prayers and thoughts are with the family…. Rodney Battles
Thank you, Rodney. My dad called your mom & his last surviving sister almost everyday until he lost both of them. I’m so glad they had their special times to share.
Mr E was a pure sole and a great person. I remember him since I was a kid , only 20 now he gave me many words of wisdom that I carry till this day. He was part of our family and when he came around he was welcomed with open arms . One of my favorite memories of Mr E is my high school graduation when he came styling in that all red dickeys suit!. May he rest and peace and love
Thank you, Jacob. Glad you were able to share special times with our father.
Our sincerest condolences on the loss of your loved one, our thoughts and prayers are with you all!
The Family of former employee, M.J. Gaydos
Thank you so much. We will miss my dad greatly, but we have some wonderful memories.
My dad thought so much of your dad. Our whole family did in fact, & we still call the shop he worked in, Joe’s Shop. It will always have his name.