Carl Evans Obituary

Carl D. Evans, Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at the University of South Carolina-Columbia, died at his home on August 12, 2025, in the company of his wife Cheryl. A Celebration of Life will be held at 2:00 pm on Saturday, August 16, 2025 at Washington Street United Methodist Church, Columbia, with visitation to follow. A private burial will precede the service. Born and raised in Kansas, Carl was the son of the late Wilbur and Viola Holaday Evans. He earned a B.A. degree from Kansas Wesleyan University and a B.D. (now M.Div.) from Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University. He went on to earn both M.A. and PhD degrees from the Divinity School of the University of Chicago. As an ordained United Methodist minister, before he began his teaching career at USC, he pastored churches in Arlington and Abbyville, Kansas, and Door Village, Indiana. He was a member of the Kansas West (now Great Plains) Annual Conference. In recent years he has been a member of the charge conference of Washington Street United Methodist Church in Columbia. Evans was a strong supporter of the civil rights movement. His advocacy for racial justice included participation in the marches in Selma and Montgomery, Alabama, events which led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. After college, seminary, and graduate school, Carl joined the Religious Studies Department at the University of South Carolina, where he served on faculty from 1974 until 2009. Early in his teaching career, he became involved in the study of Christian-Jewish relations. With awards from the National Endowment for the Humanities, he added to his knowledge in this area by attending summer seminars and institutes at Yale University, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Yeshiva University, and Brown University. His publications included the lead essay in the three-volume Encyclopedia of the Jewish Diaspora, entries on each book of the Tanakh in the Micropedia of the Encyclopedia Britannica, an edited volume Scripture in Context, and many book essays and journal articles. For almost two decades, Evans led the university committee responsible for the prestigious Solomon-Tenenbaum Lectureship in Jewish Studies. The committee brought to the university and community well-known speakers such as Elie Wiesel, Deborah Lipstadt, Thomas Friedman, Saul Friedlander, Susannah Heschel, Martin Cohen, James Carroll, and many others. He was instrumental in forming Partners in Dialogue, a partnership of seven different faiths, organized to lead up to the Centennial of the Parliament of the World's Religions. In 2011, he had a primary role in expanding Partners in Dialogue and establishing Interfaith Partners of South Carolina, a partnership of twelve different faith groups. Evans served as chair of IPSC for several years. In addition to his interfaith work, Evans was a strong advocate of ecumenical cooperation. He served on the board and then as president of South Carolina's Christian Action Council. He also served on the board and then as president of Harvest Hope Food Bank in its early years. The illness and death of Carl's first wife, Sally, dominated life in the Evans household for many years. Six years after her death he had the good fortune to meet and marry a loving, caring oncology nurse, Cheryl, who brought great joy back into his life. He is survived by his wife Cheryl W. Evans, his sons Matthew and David Evans, and his brother Darrel Evans. He is also survived by five loving grandchildren: Riley, Camp, and Knox Evans, Madison and Emma Chandler, as well as many nieces, nephews, and cousins. He was preceded in death by his parents, brothers Eugene Evans and Gary Evans, as well as his first wife Sally Wingfield Evans. The Evans family wishes to thank the staff of Amedysis Hospice for their kind and professional care of Carl during his last months. In addition, the family is appreciative to the Dawsey Sunday School Class of Washington Street United Methodist Church, as well as HL and Deloris Moree, for their love and support of Carl and the family.