ATHENS, Ohio –– Max W. Evans, 97, Professor Emeritus in the Patton College of Education at Ohio University passed away on November 26, 2024, at his home in Athens.
The son of John and Jeanette Evans, he was born at their farm home near Norwich, Ohio, on March 26, 1927. In addition to his parents, Max was preceded in his death by sisters Ruth (Dick) Williams and Gladys Marie Evans and brothers Kenneth (Margaret), Donald (Rosa Lee), Lloyd (Nancy). His wife of 69 years, Kathleen, passed away within 24 hours of his death on November 27, 2024. He is survived by his children Eric (Sherry), Maureen (Larry) Coon and Andy (Martha). Four granddaughters, one grandson and four great grandchildren also survive.
Formal education for Max began in a one-room school then followed in New Concord schools. While a senior in high school, he enlisted in the Navy in February 1945, serving aboard the destroyer, USS Sigourney. He graduated cum laude from Ohio University in 1951 after which he began a career in public education as a teacher, school principal, supervisor, and superintendent, serving schools in Bremen, Mount Vernon, and Marietta. Following completion of a Ph. D. degree at The Ohio State University and after serving the Marietta City School for six years as superintendent, he joined the faculty in the College of Education at Ohio University where he taught courses in educational leadership and advised students in their masters and doctoral degree programs. He also served as the chair of the School of Applied Behavioral Sciences and Educational Leadership. His work at Ohio University included the leadership of USAID funded projects in teacher education in Nigeria and Botswana. In addition, Max served as a USAID consultant in South Africa and a Ford Foundation consultant at the University of Namibia.
Among other professional activities, Max served as the President of the National Association of Professors of Educational Administration, Newsletter Editor of the American Association of School Personnel Administrators, and was a fifty-year member of the American Association of School Administrators and of Phi Delta Kappa. He co-edited a book dealing with primary education in Botswana, wrote for several professional publications, developed manuals for boards of education to guide the process of superintendent selection and served as a consultant to boards of education and the U. S. Department of Education. He was a member of Ohio State Professor William R. Flesher’s “Sweet 16 Club”. In his retirement years, he was engaged in efforts to improve the quality of educational opportunity for Ohio’s children and youth, particularly those in rural Appalachia. This work also included service as the Executive Director of the Coalition of Rural and Appalachian Schools. His work was recognized as an Ohio Pioneer in Education by the Ohio Department of Education, the Appalachia Education Laboratory, and as an Advocate of Education by the Ohio School Boards Association. He was also honored as a Distinguished Alumnus of the East Muskingum Schools.
Max was a member of the First United Methodist Church, Athens, Rotary clubs in Athens, Nigeria and Botswana, a Rotary Paul Harris Fellow, the Marietta and Athens Reading Clubs, the Ohio University Emeriti Association, the Athens Village, and the Ohio University Trustees Academy. He was a loyal Buckeye and Bobcat fan, a daily reader of multiple newspapers and publications, and he enjoyed reading presidential biographies and nonfiction. Max was humble, kind, encouraging and never met a stranger.
Arrangements, including cremation are with Jagers and Sons Funeral Home The family will hold a private celebration of life at Sunset Beach, North Carolina this summer. Interment will be at the Pleasant Hill Cemetery, New Concord, Ohio.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in his memory to the First United Methodist Church, 2 South College Street, Athens, Ohio 45701 or to the Max W. and Kathleen Evans Endowed Scholarship in Educational Administration, the Ohio University Foundation, Athens, OH, 45701.
The family would like to thank Dina’s Compassion Care and OhioHealth Hospice for their services.
Please share a memory, a note of condolence or sign the online register at www.jagersfuneralhome.com.
