David Michael Evans

GULFPORT, Fla. -- David Michael "Mike" Evans died Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, of pneumonia, one day after his 70th birthday, in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Mike was born Feb. 20, 1949, in Cape Girardeau to Newton Samuel and Gertrude Louise Johnson Evans. In 1968 he married Bonnie Moore. Mike and Bonnie raised miniature donkeys.

He attended Oak Ridge public schools and was a 1967 graduate of Oak Ridge High School.

Mike served in the U.S. Navy from 1967 to 1971. He received the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal and Combat Action Ribbon. After his discharge, he was employed as a railroad conductor for the Burlington Northern Railroad.

He was a Lutheran.

In 2002, Mike sustained a spinal cord injury from a fall. He moved to Florida in 2003 to receive medical treatment at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa. At the time of his death he lived in Gulfport.

Mike is survived by his ex-wife, Bonnie Johnston of Cape Girardeau; three brothers, Wayne (Nancy) Evans of Cape Girardeau, Ted (Mary) Evans of Clarkston, Michigan, and Kenny Evans of Jackson; a sister-in-law, Dianne Evans of Clarkston; nieces, Julie Freer, Shelley Evans and Tammy Obermann; and nephews, Toby and Troy Evans.

He was preceded in death by a brother, Robert.

A memorial service will be held at a later date to be announced in Jackson.

Funeral arrangements are courtesy of Neptune Society of Palm Harbor, Florida.