DeAnn Evans died in a Salt Lake hospital March 19, 2000, of cardiac arrest.
Communication was her trade, generosity her trademark. DeAnn dealt in candor, humor and caring. With warm and meticulous concern she insisted on excellence in herself and her students at the University of Utah just as she had in being a reporter, writing a column, or directing a staff for a newspaper. Little wonder that the study of ethics became her specialty. With unwavering attention she drew on her own keen intelligence and integrity to promote diversity for accreditation, for her long sponsoring of the campus Society of Professional Journalists, for tempering The Utah Chronicle staff, or conducting for years a state-wide contest for high school journalists. Whether grading papers into the night or shopping for individualized gifts for her myriad friends and relatives, DeAnn's energies focused on others. She gave herself with wry insight and affection.Active in her LDS faith as teacher, organist or at the piano, she knew how things worked. From opera to sports stats, from politics to a child's need for love. She never missed a trick or a nuance or a chance to laugh. She wore out her knees and her heart making things work for the rest of us.
Whole communities will miss her professionally; a lucky few will be enriched forever by her tender presence in their lives.
DeAnn was a graduate of the University of Utah, earned a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University and a Ph.D. at her alma mater. For four years she lived and worked in Washington D.C., for Idaho congressman George Hansen, later as Public Relations Director for a Robert Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston. She returned to Salt Lake City to work as a reporter for the Salt Lake Tribune and then The Deseret News .
There she began her career in 1967 as a member of the rewrite staff, progressing to education writer, legislative reporter and associate city editor before being appointed managing editor in June 1981. She was the only woman managing editor of the Deseret News, or as far as is known, any daily newspaper west of the Mississippi. In 1983 she was elected as one of 10 on the board of Directors of the Associated Press Managing Editors Association. Later, for five years she wrote a column on the media for the Salt Lake Tribune .
For the past twelve years she has won prestigious awards for her teaching in the Communication Department at the University of Utah, beloved by her students and respected by her colleagues.
Born February 13, 1941, in Montpelier, Idaho to Lucile Hymas and Roscoe Eschler Evans, she was preceded in death by her mother and father. DeAnn is survived by her sister, Sherrel Evans Burgoyne of Montpelier; her brother, State Senator R. Mont and Cheryl Evans; a second family of Ronald and Janice Wright, their three daughters Abby, Ashley and Megan, four nieces, five nephews, and 19 grand nieces and nephews who have adored her as she has them.
To accommodate others' travel or teaching schedules, DeAnn's funeral services will be held at noon Friday, March 24, 2000, in the Murray First Ward at 363 Vine Street. Friends are invited to gather Thursday night between 6-8 p.m. at Wasatch Lawn Mortuary, 3401 South Highland Drive and from 10:30-11:30 a.m. Friday at Murray First Ward.
In lieu of flowers DeAnn's family and friends request donations be made to the DeAnn Evans Endowed Scholarship in Journalism in the Department of Communication, sent to 304 Park Building, U of U, SLC, UT 84112.