Arkansas-Louisiana Conference President, 1954-1963
His Early Years
Irving Meek Evans was born on March 12, 1897, in Belmont, Ohio, to Anna May and William Clark Evans. He was the fifth of ten children, four girls and six boys. On September 15, 1915, Irving was united in marriage to Estella Mae Long. They had two daughters, Dorothy Virginia Evans and Mary Louise Evans (Ancestry, 2020).
Years of Ministry
For more than forty years Elder Evans served in various fields of leadership including field secretary in Ohio, New York, and the Southern Union, president of the Georgia-Cumberland conference and the Alabama-Mississippi conference, coming to the Arkansas-Louisiana conference in September 1954, where he served for the next nine years. During his administration many buildings and churches were erected. At Ozark Academy the dormitories known as Baker Hall and I. M. Evans Hall were completed. A new office building was completed and the headquarters of the conference moved from Little Rock to Shreveport (Times, 1975).
Retirement Years
Retiring in 1964, Elder Evans was the longest-serving Arkansas-Louisiana conference president up to that time. Elder Evans and his wife moved to their place of retirement in Asheville, North Carolina (Minutes, 1963). Following a brief illness, Elder Evans passed away at his home on November 8, 1975.
Citations
(1947, Feb. 14). Conference Officers Elected by Adventists. Asheville Citizen-Times, p. 9.
(1963, Dec. 19). Executive Committee Minutes. Shreveport, LA: Arkansas-Louisiana Conference of SDA.
(1975, Nov. 11). Pastor I. M. Evans. Asheville Citizen-Times, p. 11.
Ancestry.com. (2020, Apr. 1). Irving Meek Evans. Retrieved from ancestry.com.
How it all Began 