When Buddy Evans’ name is mentioned to most long-time Limestone County residents, the words “character,” “funny” and “popular” are brought up frequently.

As an elected official, lawman and restaurateur, Evans touched thousands of lives over the course of his life. Evans passed away Thursday at age 82, but tales about his seemingly larger-than-life persona will likely live on for decades to come.

Though most everyone knew him as “Buddy,” Martin Westmoreland Evans was born Nov. 18, 1928 in Athens to Theo Westmoreland Evans and Susie Lurline Quinn Evans.

As a teen, he was a volunteer firefighter in Athens and worked for Spry and McConnell Funeral Homes before serving in the U.S. Army National Guard during the Korean War.

State Representative and former Athens Mayor Dan Williams shared a humorous story about Evans’ time at McConnell Funeral Home, which was once located where the CEI Bookstore is now on the square. He said City Hall was then located directly to the south on the square where the Rogers Center is now.

“The city had one fire truck and a they had a siren on top of City Hall. When there was a fire, Chief Bumpus would turn the siren on so all the volunteer firefighters would head down to see where the fire was,” Williams said.

One afternoon, a funeral was to be held at the Presbyterian Church on the corner. Williams said Evans and his cohorts had the casket in the hearse and were pulling up in front of the church when the fire siren sounded.

“Buddy and all these young guys started running for the fire truck,” Williams said. “Mr. (D.W.) Feigley, who ran the funeral home, had to tell them, ‘If you get on that fire truck, you’re fired.’ They wanted to go to the fire, but he made them come back.”

Evans and the Feigley family remained quite close over the years, and Evans was elected coroner in 1955 and served until 1963. D.W. Feigley’s son, George Feigley, can remember Evans using the funeral home flower truck to take his future wife, Bobbie, out on dates.

“That was the only (vehicle) he had then,” Feigley said, who shared another humorous story about Evans’ employment at the funeral home.

George Feigley said his father had bought a brand new suit he was quite proud of. However, one night while Evans was helping dress a body, he grabbed Feigley’s new suit coat by mistake and cut the back out of it.

“He was a big joke player,” George Feigley said of Evans. “He liked to have a good time.”

In 1963, Evan was elected as sheriff of Limestone County, and would remain in that role until 1978. Eleven years after being elected as the county’s top lawman, Evans would play a pivotal role on April 3, 1974, as tornadoes ripped through the heart of the county.

“Sheriff Buddy Evans was my hero that night,” said former county coroner Ralph Padgett in a 2006 story in The News Courier. “He was in the ditch beside me and took so much sand and gravel in his butt that it looked like he’d been hit with buckshot.”

Williams gave Evans credit for rallying community support in the wake of the destruction, and for helping residents get back on their feet.

In 1972, William said it was Evans who had to tell D.W. Feigley that his son, Dillard, had been killed in a car crash on his way back from Birmingham. He said the news came into the sheriff’s office and Evans rode out to Feigley’s house early in the morning to break the news.

“(Feigley) knew it was bad news and wouldn’t open the door for Buddy until he told him what happened to Dillard,” Williams said. “Buddy had to tell him through the door. They were dear, dear friends.”

Evans’ influence was positive for not only adults, but for children. One of those youngsters Evans made an impression on was a young Mike Blakely who can remember giving out campaign cards for Evans at a political rally.

“I was 11 when he was running in 1962 and I’d get a bunch of those cards and just pass them out to everybody,” Blakely said. “It wasn’t just because my mama and daddy spoke so fondly of him; he just had a presence that a young kid could look up to.”

As an adult, Blakely worked in several counties as a state trooper, but enjoyed the friendly relationship he had with Evans. He also developed a respect for Evans as a first-class lawman.

“During his four terms as sheriff, he was heads and shoulders above the majority of the sheriffs in Alabama,” Blakely said. “I would have never run against him, even though I wanted to run for sheriff.”

In 1979, Gov. Fob James appointed Evans to the position of assistant director of the ABC board, where he oversaw the state’s drug unit. In 1982, Evans decided to again seek election to the position of Limestone County Sheriff, but found himself in a run-off with Blakely, his protégé. Blakely won the race and has been sheriff ever since.

“I would have never run against him because he was a friend and someone I highly respected,” Blakely said, adding that the race was the most fun of his political career.

In 1982, Evans shifted his interest to the restaurant industry and opened the Catfish Inn. Five years later, he opened Greenbrier Restaurant.

Throughout his life, Evans stayed active in the community and with civic organizations. He was a member of Athens First Baptist Church, Alabama Peace Officers, the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and Masonic Lodge 16.

He also served as president of the Athens Civitan Club, chairman of the Alabama Sheriff’s Boys and Girls Ranches and president of the Alabama Sheriff’s Association.

“He was a true public servant and helped a tremendous number of people,” Blakely said. “One reason why Limestone County is such a wonderful place to live is because of the bar he set as sheriff.”