Rhonda Evans remembers how the phone would never stop ringing at her childhood home on George Avenue, no matter if it was the middle of the night or early in the morning.
If the electricity went out, or a friend was taken to jail, or someone was in danger of being evicted, there was only one man to call on the south side of Waukegan: Robert B. Evans Sr., the longtime 1st Ward alderman.
“Nobody trusted anybody but him,” Rhonda Evans said of her father.
Robert “Bobby” Evans Sr., a lifelong Waukegan resident who came to be known as the “mayor of the south side” and served as alderman for two decades, died early Monday morning of kidney failure and complications from Alzheimer’s disease, his family said. He was 77.
Even after he pleaded guilty in 1989 to income tax evasion and concealing his monetary interest in property illegally sold to the city, Evans remained a legendary and beloved figure in Waukegan, especially on the city’s south side. Evans built his career fiercely fighting for the black community and the residents of the impoverished 1st Ward, serving as what many saw as the only voice they had to confront the city’s power structure.
The indelible mark Evans left on the city was apparent at Monday evening’s City Council meeting, where Waukegan Mayor Wayne Motley and numerous aldermen paid tribute to the man Motley called “a hero of the 1st Ward.”
Ald. Sam Cunningham, 1st, who could do what Evans couldn’t and become the city’s first African-American mayor if he defeats Ald. Lisa May, 7th, in the April 4 election, said Evans “loved this city.”
“During a time of Waukegan when this community almost neglected the south side of Waukegan, there was only one voice that was heard at City Hall, at Waukegan Park District, at Waukegan public school districts, and that was Bob Evans,” said Cunningham, who grew up in the 1st Ward and for whom Evans served as a mentor when he was younger.
“He was affectionately known as the ‘Little Mayor,'” Cunningham added, referring to a nickname resulting in part from Evans’ shorter stature.
But what Evans lacked in height, he more than made up for in toughness, both in and out of the political arena. For one thing, Evans was a two-time state high-school wrestling champion in the 127-pound division, his children said. And at home, he was a strict disciplinarian despite his otherwise fun and laughing demeanor.
“He definitely was ‘Waukegan tough,’ that’s for sure,” said Ald. Greg Moisio, 3rd.
Evans would organize bus trips to Chicago White Sox and Cubs games and the circus for the children of the south side, making sure everyone had a packed lunch. He would send his own children out during the holidays to deliver baskets of food to the less fortunate.
Evans, an insurance agent by day, was inspired to enter politics after he was taken to jail for walking his dog after the city’s 10 p.m. curfew, Rhonda Evans said.
“He found that to be such an injustice that he decided he needed to do something,” Rhonda Evans said.
And at first, some in the black community didn’t trust him when he undertook efforts to improve the neighborhood, such as urging a local tavern to clean up broken glass and public drunkenness, said Evans’ son, Bob Evans Jr. But, “they finally warmed up when they saw him starting to make things happen,” Rhonda Evans said.
Evans fought for parks and a YMCA on the south side, which is now a Boys and Girls Club. He served as a crucial conduit between the ward’s residents and the city’s police department. He even affixed a red siren to the top of his car, doing what he could to keep the neighborhood safe and orderly but also provide a check on the police, of whom many on the south side were wary.
“He would pack City Hall,” Bob Evans Jr. said. “Whenever there was an injustice going on, he would call on the community — ‘I need 700 people at City Hall tonight.’ And 700 people would be at City Hall that night.”
Evans unsuccessfully challenged then-mayor Bill Morris in 1981 in Morris’ quest for re-election. In a newspaper clipping at the time showing the candidates’ head shots with quotations below, Evans’ quote reads, “The issues I’m screaming about concern the whole city. If I didn’t jump up and raise hell the people would never learn about them. How many other aldermen have been so vocal?”
“Those two had a political battle every week,” Bob Evans Jr. said of his father and Morris.
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Motley, who spent 26 years as a Waukegan police officer, many of them patrolling the 1st Ward, said Evans was a “giant among men” who could be “brash and rash” but “was normally always right.”
“He was the alderman in the ward, so I dealt with him every day,” Motley said. Evans was a fierce defender of his community, Motley said, but would also “be right there to help you.”
“He would never walk away from a policeman in need,” Motley said. “Never.”
Motley told a story at the council meeting about being ordered by then-mayor Robert V. Sabonjian to arrest Evans for using the red light on his car after the two clashed in a political feud.
When Motley confronted Evans, the latter replied, “You’re not arresting me.” Motley said that he told Evans he didn’t have a choice, so Evans went along with it.
“It was never personal” with Evans, Motley said, laughing. Motley then recalled hearing Sabonjian a short time later on the radio, claiming he had no idea why Evans was arrested.
“Him and Sabonjian fought like hell,” Motley said. But the two men were also friends, Evans’ children recalled.
Evans eventually found himself in more serious trouble. He pleaded guilty in 1989 to conspiring with six other people to defraud the federal government of more than $250,000 in community development funds. He admitted that from 1979 to 1986, he and others bought buildings in blighted areas of Waukegan that had been targeted for redevelopment and then sold them to the city at inflated prices, according to previous news reports.
“My view is if it would have been a white man that did the same thing my dad did, they would never have gone to prison,” said Rhonda Evans. “There’s no way they would have gotten six years in federal prison.”
Before Evans departed for a federal penitentiary in Minnesota, more than 300 well-wishers, including former Mayor Haig Paravonian, turned out for a farewell party at the South Side Community Center, according to a News-Sun story. Evans was paroled in January 1992.
The conviction did little to diminish Evans’ standing as a beloved figure in the community. Some think Evans took the brunt of the punishment to shield others. Only one of Evans’ co-defendants was sentenced to prison, for 18 months, with the others receiving six months’ work release or probation.
“I don’t know if he was the ‘fall guy’ or not,” said Ald. Larry TenPas, 6th, who has served on the City Council since 1971 and knew Evans well. “I kind of wonder sometimes.”
TenPas joked that Evans should have been receiving a full-time salary for the work he did as alderman.
“He spent eight hours a day taking care of the south side ward down there,” TenPas said. “He did everything.”
Evans never left the south side. The street he lived on, George Avenue, is now additionally commemorated as “Robert B. Evans Sr. Street.”
Evans’ death even caused a thaw in the acrimony between Motley and Cunningham resulting from their contentious battle in the Feb. 28 Democratic primary, which Cunningham won. After noting that Evans’ name will “forever live in the 1st Ward,” Motley found something nice to say about Cunningham, even though they had sparred minutes earlier about a proposed forensic audit of the city’s finances.
“His legacy will be Sam Cunningham and people like Sam that are coming through the 1st Ward, making names for themselves,” Motley said.
A visitation service is scheduled for Evans from 3 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday at First Corinthian Missionary Baptist Church, 1529 Elizabeth Ave. in North Chicago, where Evans was on the ministerial staff and was a member for 70 years. The wake will be at the same location at 10 a.m. the next day, with the funeral to follow at 11 a.m. The public is invited to all of the services.
“It wouldn’t be right without his public,” Bob Evans Jr. said.
Evans is survived by his four children, Rhonda L. Evans, Robert B. (Joanne) Evans, Jr., Rochelle M. Evans and Tonia L. (Martin) Yancy, all of Waukegan, and 16 grandchildren. His wife of 55 years, Trudy, died last year.
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