In Memoriam
GERALD T. EVANS, M.D.
(1900-1983)
ON APRIL 29, 1983, Gerald T. Evans died in the home of
his son in Litchfield, Minnesota, after a very short illness.
Among the band of pioneers who placed clinical pathology
on firm academic grounds, probably none was more influential
and innovative than Gerald Taylor Evans. From his base at
the University of Minnesota, over nearly three decades, he
guided the development of academic laboratory medicine in
his own and many other institutions throughout the United
States and Canada. His writings, though few, were very influential; his effect on the field chiefly was brought about through
his influence on and guidance of young pathologists. His
students have gone out through the land into departments of
pathology and laboratory medicine and have had a profound
effect on the development of the field. Many other young
pathologists were inspired and influenced by Gerry Evans at
one time or another during their careers.
Gerald Taylor Evans was born in Gait, Ontario, in 1900.
After a period as a school teacher on the coast of British
Columbia, he entered McGill Medical School at the age of 25
and graduated there with an M.D. degree in 1932.
In the heady post-Oslerian atmosphere of Montreal, Gerry
Evans began to develop an appreciation of the power and
attractiveness of combining medicine and laboratory science.
In recollecting those days, he once stated: "The vision in
Montreal was of a close-knit laboratory-clinical partnership
active in understanding and applying basic science to clinical
practice. There was a sense of power, of direction, of a bright
and shining future." In Montreal, he met Madelon, a visitor
from Luxembourg, who became his wife and his lifelong
companion and partner. A charming and vivacious person,
Madelon had an outstanding effect on Gerry Evans' career,
filling it with excitement and emotion. The most notable
choices of his life and career were brought into focus by his
partnership with this brilliant and charming individual.
All of Gerry and Madelon Evans' six children came to them
through adoption. Because of them, Gerry decided to move
the family to a farm on the outskirts of Minneapolis. This was
the family home for two decades, and the site of many
laboratory picnics and other joyful gatherings.
After a period at the University of Pennsylvania and Yale
(with C. N. H. Long and John Peters), Gerry Evans came to
Minnesota in 1939 to take charge of the clinical laboratories,
which were then made up of two quite simple laboratory
rooms with a staff of four medical technologists. He built this
little domain into the Department of Laboratory Medicine in
1959 and continued as Chairman of that pioneer Department
until his retirement in 1966.
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Gerald T. Evans, M.D.
In 1954, he was awarded the first training grant in clinical
pathology from the National Institutes of Health. He used this
to develop a strong, resourceful training program in clinical
pathology from which many outstanding pathologists have
come.
Through many ups and downs over the years, he always
remained true to the vision of a close clinical laboratory
partnership that he first had seen in Montreal. Each patient
was a challenge to him, and he taught his students to be
skeptical of received dogma and be alert and observant and
innovative in using modern technology and modern investigative tools to solve important problems of clinical diagnosis
Vol. 82 • No. 6
IN MEMORIAM
and patient care. He could be quite cantankerous at times,
very demanding in his insistence on quality, and he often had
a homespun way of talking. Among his favorite aphorisms
was: "Trouble is normal. Show me the laboratory that never
has any trouble, and I will show you the laboratory that
stinks!"
In many ways, Gerry Evans was a maverick. He was not
bound by narrow professional interests or traditions. He saw
clearly that the future leaders of academic clinical pathology
would have to have a firm basis in the sciences, technologies,
and clinical aspects of laboratory medicine. He was open to
the full potential of each individual and was able to guide
them constructively because of this openness and vision. Like
Moses, "He climbed a high mountain and saw into a far
745
country." He was not destined to set foot in that country
himself but saw clearly its beauty and strength.
In 1966, Gerry Evans retired, and he and Madelon moved
then to Roberts Creek, on the west coast of British Columbia,
where he had spent his boyhood and taught school in his early
years. Madelon died there in 1981 after a long illness, and it
is there that Gerry and Madelon lie buried in a setting of
matchless beauty and peace.
ELLIS S. BENSON, M.D.
University of Minnesota
Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455