George Aspinwall Evans, Jr.

Born: December 7, 1940
Died: May, 2021

George A. Evans, Jr., was born in Milwaukee, son of George Aspinwall and Hildegard Thadewald Evans. He was a lifelong resident of Milwaukee and its North Shore suburbs and graduated from Whitefish Bay High School. He was an all-around athlete and avid golfer. He was Ozaukee Junior Golf Club Champion.

At Yale, George was a member of Berkeley, serving on its Council and he continued his athletic career, playing on the Berkeley football, touch football, golf and softball teams. He was selected as a member of Manuscript. He also was on the Junior Prom Committee. George was a Philosophy major, a ranking scholar and on Dean’s List. He earned his B.A. magna cum laude and was awarded an Honorary National Scholarship. A younger brother J. T. Evans also attended Yale, in the class of 1964.

Following his graduation, George attended Yale Law School and received his LL.B., later converted to J.D. when the law school adopted the Juris Doctor degree in place of the Bachelor of Laws degree.

George and his high school and college sweetheart, Julia Whitcomb (Smith College ˈ62), married within one whirlwind week of their college graduations, later moving back to Milwaukee to raise two children, Victoria and David – both of whom would eventually graduate from Yale.

George’s 55-year legal career, the last 25 of which were with the Milwaukee firm Von Briesen & Roper, encompassed general corporate practice, including service on a number of companies’ boards, as well as estate planning for individual clients and families. George was a founding member and director of Wisconsin Retirement Plan Professionals, Ltd., and was an active participant in the State Bar of Wisconsin and the Milwaukee Bar Association.

With a longstanding interest in Milwaukee-area charitable organizations, George served as chair of a United Way allocations committee; and throughout the last four decades, he was involved with the Milwaukee Art Museum in the roles of treasurer, trustee, first-ever male docent, officer of Friends of Art, founder and first president of Print Forum, and trustee of the Layton Art Collection. He was honored by the Museum with its Friend of Art of the Year award in 1988. He was president of the Friends of Old World Wisconsin and an officer of Friends of Villa Terrace. Paying respect to his alma mater, he was president of the Yale Association of Wisconsin, served as the delegate to Association of Yale Alumni conferences, and was a donor of Old Master prints to the Yale University Art Gallery. George’s and Julia’s passions for art and travel left a strong legacy in their family.

In addition to his beloved wife of 59 years, George is dearly missed by his son David Evans, his daughter-in-law Lely Evans and their children Corinne and James. George’s daughter Victoria Evans Bloodworth pre-deceased him; her husband Jon and their sons Evan and William (“Hardie”) Bloodworth survive. George is also survived by his brother John (Mary) Evans, sister Katherine Blumenthal, and brother James (Joy) Evans. He will be fondly remembered by many other friends, near and far. “Above all,” his son David, a professor at Yale, wrote, “he was an honest and kind-hearted gentleman who cared deeply for all those around him.”

It was George’s wish that there be no memorial services. In lieu of flowers, donations in his name may be made to the George A. Evans Jr. Memorial Fund for Prints and Drawings, Milwaukee Art Museum, 700 North Art Museum Drive, Milwaukee WI 53202; or to Berkeley Head of College Fund #04027, Yale University Office of Development, P.O. Box 2038, New Haven CT 06521.

Robert G. Oliver