Anthony James Evans

Tony Evans was born on October 15, 1952, in Sydney, Australia, to John and Kath Evans. He was the second of nine children (three girls and six boys). He was the perfect child, always on his best behavior, and always “shelled the peas” for his mum. He attended St Aloysius' College, a Jesuit primary and secondary day school for boys, situated on Sydney Harbour, and grew up playing rugby in the shadow of the Harbour Bridge. Tony joined Norths Rugby Club in 1971 and his friend Shaddy (Chris Shadforth) remembers him as “a self-assured and confident young player with deceptive speed and aggressive defense. He was a valued member of the 1973 Reserve Grade Premiers, and toured the UK at the end of that season.” After four seasons and 69 games with Norths, Evo, as Tony was known, moved to Melbourne and played with Harlequins and later to London where he played with the Barbarians. Of course, so many lifelong friendships came from the rugby days. His teammate and then later best man, Ian Diery was Tony’s first call for hilarity spanning many cities, three continents, and five decades. Somewhere in there, Tony found time to earn his Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing and Economics at the University of New South Wales, graduating in 1976. He began a career in business that would lead him to the Middle East, Europe, and the United States. By the late 1970s, Tony was working for DHL in Tehran during the Iranian Revolution and living in a palace with his loyal valet (named, improbably, Morfuk). He had vivid memories of eating the world's best caviar in the Tehran Hilton, alone, looking through bullet shattered windows to the city below. Under difficult circumstances, Tony shutdown DHL's Tehran operations, and began a whirlwind year of raucous times and travel, finally landing in Verbier, Switzerland. He reconnected with his old mate, Simon Glasgow, joined in business with him and moved to Washington, DC. There he found a whole new group of scoundrels and rogues, most notably, Geoff Serrell, who has been a partner in crime since. And there he met Felicia Layson, a nurse at Georgetown University Hospital who was not averse to a good time herself, but was a bit skeptical of this scallywag. A little slow to realize he’d found the love of his life—or perhaps wanting to test her mettle—Tony soon skipped back to Sydney. Felicia joined him there before long and they married in 1989. They would return to the U.S.—to Great Falls, Virginia—in 1998, but wherever they were, Tony liked to say that they fit together like puzzle pieces—one’s strengths were the other’s weaknesses. Together, they found deep love and true partnership in a marriage of 35 years. (Though it’s true, Tony never stopped wondering, “If I married one time, how did I end up with four mothers-in-law?”) Tony and Felicia’s two children—Mollie, 30, and Tom, 27—were his greatest joy. Tony spent countless hours coaching football and lacrosse (neither of which he played) with dear mate John McJunkin. With Mollie, Tony could be found loudly on the sidelines of every game, ironically in his appointed position to keep our team’s parents under control. He felt enormous pride at seeing them start their careers and establish themselves in the world—Mollie working in health technology in San Diego and Tom as a Naval Officer in Virginia Beach. Twenty years after moving to Great Falls from Sydney, Tony became a U.S. citizen. Not that he relinquished his Australian citizenship—he patiently waited until it became possible to hold both. For the past 25 years, he found rewarding work in tech and security at Escrip and Aperia. Everything Tony did and everywhere he lived provided opportunities to gather more friends and find more people to care about. He also collected clubs like he collected friends—Marylebone Cricket Club, Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, Queensland Turf Club, to name a few favorites. Tony has been a member of Burning Tree in Bethesda, Maryland, since 2012 and it cannot be overstated how much he enjoyed the community and the golf there. Tony never missed an opportunity to jump over the bridge for a game, a drink, a lunch, and a laugh with Michael Durney, Ralph Blaisey, and so many others. Tony died peacefully with Felicia beside him on January 5, 2024, at Inova Fairfax Hospital from esophageal cancer. He is survived by Felicia, Mollie, and Tom; his mother, Kath, and seven siblings; his many in-laws to whom he was a true brother and son; and a wide community of friends, colleagues, and scallywags. He will be toasted on both sides of the Atlantic and the Pacific and will be greatly missed. If you would like to make a donation in Tony’s memory, please consider The Salvation Army (salvationarmyusa.org/usn) or D.C. Central Kitchen (dccentralkitchen.org).