Stanley Wilson Evans

Stanley Wilson Evans, 88, of Sioux City, retired president and chairman of the board of directors of Live Stock National Bank, now Wells Fargo, died Thursday, Dec. 28, 2006, at a Sioux City hospital.

Memorial services will be 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 10, 2007, at Meyer Brothers Colonial Chapel. Burial of the cremated remains will be at a later date in Floyd Cemetery. Visitation with the family will be one hour prior to the services at the funeral home.

Stanley Wilson Evans was born March 27, 1918, in Sioux City, the son of Carl Forest and Clara Marie (Holmes) Evans. Stanley's mother died when he was 7 years old. He and his father then lived with his maternal grandparents until Stanley completed high school. He attended Sioux City Public Schools and graduated from Central High School in 1937. After graduation, Stanley went to work as a messenger at Live Stock National Bank for a salary of $40 per month. He attended School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

He married the former Wilma Pickens of St. Louis, Mo., on Oct. 31, 1947, in Dayton, Ohio. Stanley was drafted by the armed forces in March 1943. While in the U.S. Army, he attended Finance School at Wake Forest, N.C., and was selected for Finance Officers' Candidate School at Duke University, Durham, N.C. He graduated as second lieutenant, U.S. Army Finance Department, in November 1943.

Stanley served an extended period with the Office Chief of Finance in the U.S. Overseas, he served with the Finance Department at Cheltenham and London, England, Rheims, France, and Wiesbaden, Germany. Upon returning to the U.S., he was assigned to the Army Finance Center in St. Louis, Mo. After his discharge from the Army, Stanley returned to Sioux City and served as finance officer for the 34th Infantry Division of the Iowa-Nebraska National Guard. He retired from the armed forces in 1963 with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Except for his service in the armed forces, Stanley spent his entire career with Live Stock National Bank, which later became Northwestern National Bank and then Norwest. He retired as president and chairman of the board of directors of Live Stock National Bank in 1982.

After retirement, Stanley continued to be active in many Sioux City civic affairs, including the White Horse Mounted Patrol and River-Cade and had served as Potentate of the Abu-Bekr Shrine in 1975 and as Admiral of the 1977 River-Cade. Stanley had also served as president of the Chamber of Commerce and the Sioux City Symphony as well as serving on the Briar Cliff College Board. He was elected to the Sioux City City Council in 1986 and served as mayor pro tem for Mayor Loren Callendar. He was a charter member of Missouri River Historical Development Association (MRHD), serving as adviser to the nonprofit organization. He served on the Sioux City Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center's Operating Committee and was adviser to "A Way of Life: A Story of the Sioux City Stockyards, Vol. I" published in May by the Sioux City Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center Association. He continued his advisory role for Volume II of the stockyards story, scheduled for publication in the fall of 2007.

Stanley had been a doer in the community for many years and had been the backbone of many organizations, both welfare and cultural, in helping them sustain their activity and keeping them viable. He always thought about how everyone could improve the community.

Stanley is survived by his wife of 59 years, Wilma; their daughter, Gayle Probst and her husband, Scott of Redondo Beach, Calif.; their daughter, the late Gwen Basile, who passed away Dec. 23, 2001, and her husband, Paul Basile of Provence, France; a grandson, Mark Basile of New York City; three granddaughters, Marie Basile of Davis, Calif., Laura Probst Pimental of New York City, and Sara Probst of Santa Monica, Calif.; and a great-granddaughter, Gwendolyn Geri.

In lieu of flowers, please direct contributions in Stanley's name to the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center Association.