Ed Evans

Son of a railroad engineer, his first job, at the age of 16, was as a "snake" (switchman) on the Illinois Central Railroad. Early in WWII, before he was old enough to join up, he worked as a cowboy. After joining at 17, he became a tail-gunner in the US Army Air Corps. After the war, he earned his college degree and went on to a varied career as an opera singer, rancher, a show horse judge, a radio personality, an electronics firm executive, a print model, a Kentucky colonel, owner of a publicity consulting firm, and a sheriff's deputy in Cook County, Illinois. He was married three times and had two daughters with his second wife. Although fit and athletic into his 70s, he died as a result of illnesses brought on by a 55-year smoking habit.