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Obituary for Evans
Cantrell
Friday, August 28, 1981
Oregonian
Evans Cantrell, a California economics
executive who was a native of Portland, died of cancer
Sunday in a Long Beach, California hospital. He was 85.
Mr. Cantrell, a graduate of the University of
Oregon, operated his own financial consultant practice and
worked as controller and accountant for federal government
projects. He was vice president of Economic Resources
Development Co. in the Watts area of Los Angeles where he
was involved in the development of a large supermarket.
He made his permanent home in the San
Francisco-Oakland Bay area but was a frequent visitor to
Portland and traveled throughout the country. He had lived
in Long Beach for more than a year.
At the time of his death he was assisting in
the development of a 200-unit senior citizens project, which
will be renamed the Evans Cantrell Manor.
Mr. Cantrell had been a senior investigator
for a study of Housing and Urban Development programs,
senior investigator of the economic impact of the closure of
the Hollywood-Burbank airport, vice president of fiscal
administration for Pacific Consultants in Berkeley, director
of the American Technical Assistance Corp., and senior
management consultant of Cheechi & Co. in Washington, DC.
Funeral will be at 11 a.m. Friday in Downs
Memorial Church in Oakland, with burial in Richmond, Calif.
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Evans Wayne Cantrell
May 15, 1926 – August 23, 1981
Funeral Obit
Evans was a dedicated and loving human
being. He was a devoted father and was an inspiration to
his family and friends.
Evans Cantrell, Vice President of the
Economic Resources Development Corporation, was born in
Portland, Oregon on May 15, 1926. He attended public
schools in the Portland area and received his Bachelor of
Arts Degree in Mathematics and Business Administration from
the University of Oregon. He received his Masters Degree in
Public Administration from Golden Gate University in San
Francisco. Evans further attended the United States Army
School in Finance; the University of California at Berkeley;
and Hastings Law School.
In his professional career, he was Assistant
Project Coordinator and Senior Financial Advisor of the Oak
Center Project in West Oakland; President of the Technical
Assistance and Management Corporation, an on-the-job
training program for low-income families; Director of the
American Technical Assistance Corporation to develop a
shopping center in Seattle, Washington; Project Director for
the Pacific Consultants in Berkeley, handling technical
assistance to cities and counties for the Housing and Urban
Development Block Grants; Vice President of Pacific
Consultants Fiscal Administration Division; Project Director
for the provision of technical assistance for Housing and
Urban Development Black Grant Funds in the city of Pacifica;
Senior Investigator for Housing and Urban Development funded
projects and their impact on utilization of tax increment
financing for taxing agencies.
Evans migrated to Long Beach, California to
become Vice President of the Economic Resources Development
Corporation. He was a member of the Board of Directors for
the Ella Fitzgerald Children’s Center. One of the most
recent projects that Evans was working on at the time of his
demise was the development of a shopping center in Watts,
California, and the development of a 200 unit senior
citizens center in California City which will now be named
the Evans Cantrell Manor.
Memorial contributions to the American Cancer
Society will be greatly appreciated.
MIRACLES MY BROTHER
When I was a little girl, I was the only
child in the neighborhood. My aunt told me to pray to God
for a little brother. I did pray hard, and very soon after,
arrived a tiny baby brother, EVANS, the first miracle in my
life.
When Evans was 30 years old, he had a serious
accident. Holding his hand, and knowing that he was dying,
I prayed for another miracle – and God answered my prayer.
He spared Evans for 25 more glorious years – to live a full
and productive life, to be a wonderful father to five
beautiful children. Twenty-five years to be a living
inspiration to others, to set a high standard of perfection
and to assist many towards successful careers.
Once more, I found myself holding his hand
and praying, praying with the help of my father, my dear
cousins, the mother of his children, and a host of others,
praying for a third miracle. Praying for God to save him,
and once again, God answered my prayers, but in HIS own
way. HE gave Evans a peaceful death and near the end
granted him two days free of any pain, so that he could talk
about his philosophy of work and living. These were some of
his words:
“Remember, people have personal and human
needs. No matter how efficient they are, or how hard they
work to get the job done, they still have these personal
need. We want so many things, and we want to do so many
things and we won’t get all of them, but we have to get
some of them . . . the head man, or the boss, or
whatever you want to call him, must remember that the people
who are working, giving their talent and their loyalty to
the project, he must remember that those people are
individuals.
In the workplace, people need recognition
for what they do – more than a paycheck. They need to
socialize with the chief, the man at the top to make sure
that every project succeeds. He should recognize them as
individuals and human.
It is not just salary and material things
. . . but things like “let’s get together and talk. Come
over and we’ll have some food and just enjoy ourselves.”
The head man shouldn’t just say ‘goodnight, see you
tomorrow’ and then go off to play golf or live his own life
and forget his staff until the next work day. That’s what I
mean Florence, people need to feel other people.”
My little miracle brother is gone now, but
his spirit is still very much alive and his deeds will keep
growing – like great redwood trees, if we believe in
ourselves the way he believed in himself.
by
Florence Cantrell May
Submitted by L. Kemp
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