Kern County Obituaries

Evan Merrill Willard

Submitted by Don Stowell; 13 Feb 2008

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm

These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit 
or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations 
desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain 
the written consent of the contributor, OR the legal representative of 
the submitter. All persons donating to this site retain the rights to 
their own work.

Source Unknown; 14 Nov 2002

Evan Merrill Willard, 84, of Caldwell, Idaho, passed away peacefully at home on 
Sunday, November 3, 2002. Funeral services were held on Friday, November 8, 2002 
at the Caldwell, Idaho Stake Center located on South Kimball Ave., and at 3 p.m. 
the same day at the Wendell, Idaho Stake Center. Burial followed at the Wendell 
Cemetery. 
Evan was born November 30, 1917 in Cleveland, Idaho to Laurence David and Mary 
Anderson Willard, the fourth of eight children. At about age seven he moved with 
his family to Wendell, Idaho and he attended school there. Evan came from a 
musical family. He loved to dance and he loved to sing. 
Evan married Ethel Maxine Kassens on April 23, 1943 in the Salt Lake LDS Temple. 
They made their home in Wendell where their four children were born. There, he 
worked in transportation running trucks and school buses. 
In 1965, the family moved to Boron, California where Evan worked in the Borax 
Mines and he worked as a security guard for Lockheed. In 1986, Maxine his 
devoted companion of 43 years passed away. 
On August 25, 1990, Evan married Roma Howell Christensen in the Boise Temple. He 
moved to Caldwell where he resided until his passing. He was a faithful member 
of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He was the Bishop of the 
Wendell Ward and he served in many other leadership positions. 
Evan is survived by his wife, Roma; his sister, June Rands; his sisters-in-law, 
Lucille Willard, Ina Christensen, Geneil Kassens and Velma Willard; a brother-
in-law, George Storms; his four children, Merrill and Alice Willard, Norman and 
Lori Willard, Grant and Marge Willard, and Evaun and Mark Swann; Roma�s nine 
children, Ann and Armond Garner, Joe and Julie Lindsey, Todd and Dixie 
Christensen, Virgil and Lucy Christensen, Mike and Jill Christensen, Darell and 
Gayle Christensen, Grant and Sharon Dearden, Larry and Tawana Christensen, Roger 
and Julianne Christensen; 73 grandchildren; 81 great grandchildren; and four 
great-great grandchildren. Arrangements by Dakan Funeral Chapel, Caldwell Idaho.