- Date Of Birth: October 22, 1923
- Date Of Death: July 24, 2018
- State: Idaho
Gene Evans, a member of the “Greatest Generation”, passed away July 24, 2018,at 94, fighting his last battle. Gene was Idaho’s oldest World War II Veteran and Purple Heart recipient.
Gene was born in Commerce, Oklahoma to Henry and Flora (Phillips) Evans. Shortly after his birth his family moved to Joplin, Missouri where his father worked in the mining industry. His father died when Gene was 13 months old. His mother was left with 3 boys and 2 girls, Frank, Harry, Juanita, Sophia, and Gene, the baby of the family. She never married again and lost both of her girls, Juanita at 21 and Sophia at 11. Frank, the oldest boy, became the father figure for Gene.
The family continued to live in Joplin where Gene attended elementary school, until 1932 when his mother moved them to California. Gene finished Junior High School in Los Angeles and during his junior year of high school, he joined the Army at 17 and was at Fort Lewis, Washington when Pearl Harbor was attacked and World War II was declared.
