March 06 1924 October 18 2019
Evan Paul Jordan March 06, 1924 – October 18, 2019 Sign Guestbook| Memorial Donation It is my great pleasure to announce the immortality of Dr. Evan Paul Jordan. He skipped-out from earthly-life October 18th, 2019 of natural causes at 95 years young in Alamogordo, New Mexico. His last spoken words were “I need a haircut,” because he rarely removed his favorite navy blue newsboy cap and liked to conveniently forget he still had a full head of hair in his nineties. Just kidding!! If he had forgotten about his luxurious white hair, he would not have been able to remind his bald younger brother of it when he called to chat. His brother would often respond with, “Good thing I got the brains!” and, thus, would begin another day of jovial, perpetual childhood that was the life of Evan Jordan. He never met a toothpick or a pair of ear plugs he didn’t like. He kept used examples in his pants pockets because one never knows when you might need to chew on something or randomly use a chainsaw. Also present in said pockets, was a comb for his unrivaled hair and a fire jolly rancher or two because the best type of candy was the kind that brought a look of panicked surprise when you shared it with hapless young children. He hiked at least three miles every day well into his nineties with a rotating cast of loved dogs. Dogs were perfect hiking companions for him because they were too short in height to fall victim to a man who had a tendency of smacking every human hiking partner in the face with a tree branch as he hurried through the forests of his life. Professionally, he was able to fool many people into believing that he was an adult as a speech pathologist and audiologist and professor thereof. He received his Bachelors degree at Indiana University, his Masters degree at the University of Illinois, and his PhD from the University of Iowa. The last university tricked into hiring him was the University of Montana in Missoula. Go Griz! Evan Jordan lived out many of his final days in a rotating wardrobe comprised of every U of M polo shirt ever produced and could be heard singing, “Up with Montana boys; down with the foe” frequently despite the fact that he was born and raised in Indiana. He was born March 6, 1924 to Clifford and Avanelle Jordan in Lafayette, Indiana. The oldest son of a Methodist minister, Evan moved all over Indiana during the depression. During this time, he developed his life-long skills of never throwing anything away and surviving adventures on self-built rafts. He once bought 20 old school maps at an auction and used them as curtains. He gave outrageous gifts like a lamp fashioned out of a taxidermied deer hoof. He posted his own colonoscopy photos on the family refrigerator. He owned a dump truck, moving van, crane, several tractors, and his personal vehicle was an old ambulance. Just because. His idea of bathing his children consisted of smothering them in camp soap and throwing them in the nearest creek. He raised five good swimmers. Evan Jordan was a veteran of World War II (Signal Security Agency, the codebreaking intelligence division of the United States Army) and survived the teenage years of three daughters. There was no question for him on which event was scarier. His mother was among some of the first women to graduate from Purdue University, and, as a result, Evan fostered a life-long love for education. He volunteered countless hours in schools, proctored district and state spelling bees, and served as the holiday bazaar Santa every year. He was issued a plaque from the state of Montana where he was once the oldest serving school board member in the state ending his final term for Frenchtown Schools in Frenchtown, Montana at the age of ninety one. He was never old a day in his life. He was frequently disciplined by his wife and children for playfully hitting his grandchildren with his cane, stealing their food, storing an ice pick under the couch for the crawling baby to find, and using colorful language whenever it suited him. Evan Jordan was a man who spoke German to everyone whether they knew the language or not. The jury is still out over whether he actually knew German himself. He was a man who said the word “beep” out loud multiple times when people walked slowly in front of him and corrected the grammar of strangers. He was a man who loved frappuccinos, music, humor, and life with a heat as intense as the sun. Therefore, he is a man who can never die because he has seared himself into the hearts of all who know and love him! Dr. Evan Paul Jordan is survived by his wife and chief disciplinarian of over 40 years, Reina Waybright Jordan of Alamogordo, New Mexico; his aforementioned younger brother with a follicle condition, Herbert Jordan of Iowa City, Iowa; four squeaky-clean children: Catherine Thomas of Farmington, Minnesota; Tracey Jordan (husband Paul Gallay) of Cold Spring, New York; Kendra Apodaca (husband Randy Apodaca) of Alamogordo, New Mexico, and Joshua Jordan of Missoula, Montana; four grandchildren bruised by both his cane and the ferocity of his affection for them: Amelia Gallay of San Leandro, California and Serena, Jolene, and Corbin Apodaca of Alamogordo, New Mexico; dear friends and happy receivers of deer hoof leg lamps: Mike and Jo Jakupcak of Missoula, Montana and Lowell and Ruth Luke of Helena,Montana; and many beloved nieces and nephews, countless friends, neighbors (special shout-out to All-Star neighbors Mike & Nita Ryan and June Rockwood and family), and fellow educators. He was preceded in death by his parents, Clifford and Avanelle; his older sister, Jean Jordan Gibbs; his younger brother, Morris Jordan; his first wife and the mother of his three oldest children, Barbara Jordan; his son, David Jordan; and a multitude of furry animal companions both feline and canine. It was Dr. Jordan’s wishes to be cremated and returned to his favorite land in Nine Mile Valley, Montana. A Celebration of Life for Evan will be occurring in Missoula, Montana this summer 2020. The Jordan family has entrusted their loved one to the care of Alamogordo Funeral Home to direct the arrangements. Print Obituary Sign Guestbook Name: Location: Video: Image: Light A Candle Candle 1 Candle 2 Candle 3 Candle 4 Email: Please keep my message private Personal Message: Personal Message (required) Confirm: Submit Guestbook entry
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Evan Paul Jordan March 06 1924 October 18 2019.
Death notice for the town of: Alamogordo, state: New Mexico