Henry J. Evans Jr., consummate newspaperman
Henry J. Evans Jr., "Chip," "Hank," of Milton passed away Friday, Feb. 14, 2020, at his home. He was 64. Henry was born May 13, 1955, in Philadelphia, Pa., to Rosa and Henry J. Evans Sr.
Henry graduated from Cape Henlopen High School in 1972. During Henry's high school years, under the direction of his favorite teacher, the late Mrs. Harriet Jeglum, he won multiple acting awards, before starting down a path of journalism that he would stay on for the rest of his life. As the lead writer and editor of the school newspaper, "Viking Ventures," Henry's headlines often reflected his sarcastic sense of humor, while still bringing to light the true crux of the matter.
His longtime friend, John Tobin, recalled his favorite headline as, "A Movie Is Only As Good As The Sheet It's Shown On." This was Henry's journalistic way of bringing attention to the fact that movies were being shown on sheets. Shortly after his article, the school purchased a new, state-of-the-art movie screen.
Upon graduation, Henry attended the University of Delaware. During the summer of his second year in college, Henry was severely injured in a work-related accident that nearly silenced him as a writer, damaging both his arms and hands. But that wasn't enough to stop him.
After many surgeries and months of grueling rehabilitation, upon his release from the hospital, he headed west. There he would reinvent himself, first as a satellite monitor with Ford Aerospace in Lompoc, Calif. Finally Henry's ship (his 900 Saab Turbo Coupe), came to rest in his beloved new West Coast home of Seattle, Wash.
There, Henry would meet and marry the love of his life of 33 years, and he once again set off to prove that the pen is mightier than the sword. After a brief stint with The Seattle Daily Times, he was offered and accepted an assignment from the Gannet News Organization as the lead reporter/editor of The Guam Daily News. Two typhoons later he said, "Man, I think Dorothy [referencing The Wizard of Oz] was right, ‘There's no place like home!’”
Henry returned to Milton with his bride, where he patiently waited for the availability of his master craftsmen and lifelong friend Grant Dockety to build his custom dream home on the family land known as Pohope. He quickly found work freelancing and writing for the Delaware State News, the Delaware Coast Press and, finally, the Cape Gazette.
Henry loved working at the Gazette. He once said, “Being able to cover my hometown where it all started has been the coolest assignment I ever had." He also once said, “Man I've covered stories on islands no bigger than a rock in the Pacific that you've never heard of and probably never will!"
Writing was his life's work. His close friend Gary Cottingham called him the Ultimate Wordsmith. Along with reading and writing, Henry loved music! He was one of the founders of the very first DJ services in Sussex County, Sound Creations.
His friend and fellow Cape thespian classmate Pat Reed, of Disney and Warner Brothers Studios fame, said, "Henry could have an insightful, intellectual conversation with anybody, about anything, anytime."
Henry is survived by his son Orion Baker of Seattle; his brother and sister-in-law Maurice and Sherry Evans of Easton, Md.; his sister Kia Evans-Watson of Milton; his sister and brother-in-law Ena Evans and Brian Hall of Magnolia; his mother and father Rosa and Henry J. Evans Sr. of Milton; his nephews Coi Evans of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Cyrus Hall of Magnolia; nieces Amanda Evans of Millsboro and Novia Watson of Virginia Beach, Va.; along with many other cousins, aunts and one uncle.
At his request there will be a celebration of his life later in 2020. For more information, friends and family are asked to please reply to bizpro4u@yahoo.com.
