Grandfather, longtime ad executive, jazz lover

Norman Clark (Scott) Evans died June 6 at age 91.

Scott was born in Pomona on January 8, 1935, the son of Verna Clark Evans and John A. Evans. He graduated in 1953 from The Webb School in Claremont and in 1957 from Claremont Men’s College (now Claremont McKenna College), where his academic majors were fine arts and humanities.

After college he served two years in the U.S. Army as an infantry officer commanding a basic training company at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri. In recognition of his unit’s consistently outstanding performance he was the post’s only peacetime soldier enlisted or commissioned to receive a commendation for meritorious service. That experience was so rewarding that he remained in the Army Reserves for many years, resigning as a captain to concentrate on an advertising career that proved even more challenging and fulfilling.

Choosing advertising over his paternal family’s clothing business and maternal family’s automobile business in Pomona, he was employed by two major Los Angeles agencies for almost 30 years. He entered advertising by luck, reluctantly accepting a job as a trainee copywriter at Erwin Wasey, Ruthrauff & Ryan when he found no openings for a trainee art director. He worked for five years primarily on the Carnation account, learning the business and how to write effective ads. In 1965, he joined Eisaman, Johns & Laws, one of the West Coast’s largest independent agencies at the time, serving initially as a senior copywriter and before long as an account manager. His had a wide array of clients, but his primary focus was on automotive accounts, including Chevrolet dealer associations in many markets, the National Automobile Dealers Association, Peugeot automobiles, Cooper Tires, and Norton-Triumph and Suzuki motorcycles.

He and his creative team received numerous advertising industry awards over the years. The many client and agency friendships developed during his 25 years at EJL remained important to him for the rest of his life.

In 1988, then single and anxious to leave Los Angeles, he departed EJL as a senior vice president, account supervisor and moved to Santa Rosa to start his own direct mail catalog of Northern California handcrafted gifts. “The bad news is after three years the catalog failed to get the funding it needed to continue,” his family shared. “The good news is during this time Scott reconnected with his high school sweetheart, the former Sally Jane Balch of Claremont. They were married in 1990 and had 35 1/2 wonderful years together making up for lost time.”

Until he retired in 2005, he moved from one advertising affiliation to another in Sonoma and Marin counties before concentrating on retail promotional campaigns for several major Sonoma and Napa wineries, finally coming full circle as a freelance copywriter for Windsor Vineyards.

In retirement, he and Sally took great pride in their home and garden, and enjoyed being with each other, their children, families, many friends and their beloved golden retrievers Peaches, Gracie, and Sophie. When they weren’t traveling extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and Caribbean, they relished living in Sonoma County with its wineries, restaurants, cultural events, and frequent getaways throughout the West.

His special interests were art (especially the work of Millard Sheets and other mid-20th century California watercolorists), history (especially American) and his passion: mainstream jazz. He enjoyed the club dates, concerts and albums of all the jazz greats but especially the artistry of Stan Kenton and the renowned West Coast musicians influenced by the Kenton band. He was a member of The American Jazz Institute’s Advisory Board and for many years designed and edited that organization’s member newsletter.

He is survived by his beloved wife Sally; daughter Alissa Lund (and husband Dana) of El Segundo, California; grandsons Brandon Evans of Marshfield, Wisconsin, Kai Evans of Mountain Home, Idaho, and Jack, Cory and Casey Lund of El Segundo; and sisters Mary Goss (husband Bill) and Cassie Northrup (husband Pete), both of Lake Oswego, Oregon. He is also survived by Sally’s family, including daughter Robyn Richardson (husband Gary) of St. Louis, Missouri; son Mike Adams of Atlanta; grandson Josh Richardson of Boone, North Carolina; and brother Rob Balch of Costa Rica.

He was preceded in death by his beloved son, John Evans.

A private family burial will take place at Oak Park Cemetery in Claremont.

Donations in his memory may be made by check to The American Jazz Institute, P.O. Box 5716, Pasadena, CA 91117; NorCal Golden Retriever Rescue at ngrr.org/donation-form.html; or Dogwood Animal Rescue in Santa Rosa at dogwoodanimalrescue.org, honoring his special friends Bizzy, Peaches, Gracie and Sophie.