William Jerome "Jerry" Evans
Marriages
Suzi Molz - June 13, 1981
Annapolis, Maryland
Obituaries
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 3 D Obituary - December 27, 2015
William Jerome "Jerry" Evans
December 15, 1953 - December 13, 2015
Jerry Evans passed away at his home in Grand Junction on Sunday, December 13, 2015, after a brief but courageous battle against Stage IV non-smoker lung cancer.
Born on December 15, 1953, at Fort Carson, Colorado Springs, Colorado, he was the oldest of four boys born to Roslyn Mahoney Evans and William Cooper Evans.
He grew up in Fort Collins, CO, attended Ft. Collins High
School and graduated from Poudre High School in 1972. After
attending Western State in Gunnison, CO and graduating from
Colorado School of Mines in 1976 with a degree in Applied
Mathematics and Geophysics he completed Aviation Officer
Candidate School in Pensacola, FL, was commissioned as an
Ensign and earned his Naval Aviator Wings. He served in
Helicopter Squadron HSL-36 at Naval Airstation Mayport, FL,
flying antisubmarine helicopters, deploying to the
Mediterranean arena for three tours.
He and Suzi Molz were married in Annapolis, Maryland on
June 13, 1981, having met while students at Colorado School of Mines in 1976.
As a Naval Flight Instructor in Squadron VT-27 stationed at
NAS Corpus Christi, he flew the T-28 Trojan, the radial engine,
propeller workhorse of military aviation training. He was a part
of history as the last T-28 training flight was completed by his
squadron in early 1984 when the plane was de-commissioned.
He continued instructing in the T-34C turboprop trainer at NAS
CC until he began his commercial aviation career with
Continental Airlines in 1985, based out of Houston, TX as a
Flight Engineer on the Boeing 737. Soon after, he flew as First
Officer on the DC-9 then on to the MD-80. In 2000 he took the
opportunity to train in the Boeing 777 as First Officer and for
the next 12 years flew international routes, mostly to Paris, so
that he could take his in-line skates and participate in the weekly Friday night "Pari Roller", the biggest weekly street skating event in the world. He also enjoyed flying to Amsterdam and spending his layovers skating in their version, the "Friday Night Skate". After route changes at the Houston base he flew most of his trips to Tokyo, which allowed him to get back to Colorado to cross country ski race on weekends. In the winter, he would often work the 13 hour trip to Tokyo from Houston on a Monday, have a one day layover, work the return trip to
Houston arriving back Wednesday afternoon, return to Grand
Junction on a Thursday, wax cross country skis Friday, then ski race on Saturday and/or Sunday. Other times his week would be a skating workout around Lake Conroe in Texas, the next day a run through the rice paddies in Tokyo, back to Houston for a round of golf, then up to Grand Junction for a bike ride on the Monument the following day.
In 2012 Continental Airlines, then in the process of merging
into United Airlines, was to be the first US carrier to add the
new carbon-fiber Boeing 787 Dreamliner to its fleet and Jerry
bid to be in the initial training class. He was able to do so, and
with his training partner were the first US line pilots to be type
rated by the FAA in the 787. He felt fortunate to be a part of the launch of the new aircraft and technology and was the first US line pilot to fly a revenue flight on the 787, the day it was put into commercial service in the US. At the end of 2013 as
Continental and United completed their merger, Jerry decided to retire at age 60 while still wearing his Continental wings.
Aviation was his career but his passions were bicycling, (he
loved riding up mountains - not so much the descent), crosscountry skiing, trail running uphill, and understanding why and how things worked. He had an insatiable desire for knowledge, loved physics, mathematics, electronics, music, science fiction, always pursuing information that would help him understand the things that fascinated him and that list was long. Having never smoked, even his lung cancer diagnosis captivated his dogged desire to understand his genetic mutation and implications. Daily life was never boring, a continuum of science projects, of information to be gained, evaluated and interpreted. His vitality, energy, and inquisitive analytical mind will be painfully missed.
According to his wishes, the University of Colorado Anschutz
Cancer Center and MD Anderson Cancer Center were given the opportunity to gather information after his death and prior to his cremation as his contribution to the advancement of research in the quest to diagnose, treat, and cure cancers.
Jerry is survived by his best friend, companion, training
partner and wife of 35 years, Suzi Molz Evans; his father,
William C. Evans (Sherry); beloved feline family; brother, Dr.
Douglas Evans (Meghan); nieces, Hope and Quinn Evans; sisterin- law and brother-in-law, Terri and Brian Cookerly; nephew and niece, Michael and Katie Cookerly; nephews, Ty and Tanner Evans, and niece and nephew, Helen Marie and Alan Hartman. He was preceded in death by his loving mother,
Roslyn; brothers, Scott Evans and Jim Evans, and parents-inlaw, Harold and Helen Molz.
A celebration of Jerry’s life will be held in the Spring, under
blue skies and warm sunshine, as he wished. His family will
gather for his Funeral Mass after the Holidays.
Following Jerry’s compassion for animals, contributions in his
memory could be made to the animal rescue agencies
C.L.A.W.S. 2214 Sanford Drive, Grand Junction, CO 81505 and Lost to Loved Inc. 23 Sarasota Cir North, Montgomery, TX
77356, or to the advancement of cancer research through the
Lung Cancer Research Fund, University of Colorado Anschutz
Medical Campus, 13001 E. 17th Place, MS A065, Aurora, CO
80045.
