EVANS, THOMAS (1893-1975)

EVANS, THOMAS, United Church minister, Red Bank and Whitneyville, 1951-54; b. Wigan, near Manchester, England, 2 Jun 1893, s/o David Evans and Jane Mitchinson; m. Lillian Johnston, of Saint John; d. Sydney, N.S., 3 Oct 1975.

A carpenter by trade, Thomas Evans emigrated from England to Florida as a young man and did his first preaching there. He later settled in Newfoundland, where he served as a United Church lay preacher until he was ordained in 1935, at age forty-two. He had four brief pastorates in Newfoundland. In 1943 he was called to Leitches Creek, near Sydney, N.S. He retained that pastorate until 1951, when he took over the two-point charge of Red Bank and Whitneyville, as successor to the Rev. William C. Amey. After three years he resigned and went to Lockport, N.S., where he had his last regular appointment.

During Evans's retirement years he supplied pulpits in several different communities in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, the last being in Sydney, N.S., where he and his family were living at the time of his death in 1975. He was survived by his wife, Lillian Johnston, and two daughters.