Michael “Mike” Wayne Evans was born to Gary and Esther Evans on Jan. 11, 1959, in Elyria, Ohio, at the Elyria Memorial Hospital, and died in a vehicle collision in Springerville on April 14, 2025.
In his early years, Mike and his two older brothers were sent to Holbrook to live with his father, as his parents had become separated. Mike had two older brothers, Donald and Gary, and they went back and forth between Holbrook and Elyria. In 1970, Mike and his brothers moved to Phoenix, where he attended junior high school. A few years later, the family moved to Nogales and he attended high school there.
After a few years, the family moved back to Newbury, Ohio, where he attended and graduated from the Chagrin Falls High School. Mike joined the Army and after his service he attended Kent State University.
Mike worked for various companies in Ohio until 1996, when he moved to Springerville to join a joint business venture that was called the Little River, with his two brothers. After the death of his brother Gary, Mike and Donald sold the business in 2004. Mike then went to work for the Arizona Department of Corrections as a correctional officer. After 20 years of service, he retired and lived in Eagar. Mike attended and was a member of the Presbyterian Church in Springerville.
