Our fun-loving, wonderful, and exceptionally cool father and husband, Tobe Wright Evans, died on June 14, 2024. It is with great sadness that we share this news, as he passed well before we were ready to lose him.
Tobe and Judy, his wife of 40 years, recently moved to Fort Worth to be near their granddaughter, Eleanor. Over the last sixteen months she has been his shining star, adding immense purpose and joy to his life. To her, he was Pops. Tobe also leaves behind four children and their significant others: Bailey Freeman and husband Clay of Fort Worth; Betsy Helesic and husband Jacob of Alpine; Chris Evans and partner Camille of New York City; and Rachel Brown and husband Mitch of Los Angeles. He loved his large family and extended network: his nieces, nephews, sister, brothers, brother-in-law, sisters-in-law, cousins, and friends, were regular fixtures in his life and recipients of many group text messages. He was deeply loved in return.
Tobe was surrounded by his wife and four children when he peacefully left this world. The family spent his final hours listening to classic rock, but that goes without saying because music has always been a part of him and he made sure it was a central tenet of the Evans family life.
Tobe was born on February 15, 1957 in Dallas, Texas to Mary and Arja Evans. He was the youngest of four and as a VBAC baby, he was a medical anomaly. In 1957 that was truly rare. His brothers Bob and Harrison survive him, and his sister Lucy passed away in February 2024. Everyone always said Tobe was the most reasonable of the siblings and that isn't saying much! Tobe skirted trouble dodging the Highland Park police with his childhood friends, only apprehended once following a knee surgery when he couldn't run fast enough on crutches. Only after meeting Judy Bacarisse in 1980 did he realize trouble wasn't the only way to have a good time.
In addition to teaching his children about music, he taught them how to play Super Nintendo, how to drive, and how to best interact with police officers after breaking the law. Rule number one was: Don't get caught. He was also an expert on cartoon storylines. He particularly enjoyed Hey Arnold! and Rugrats. Additionally, the children regularly requested re-watches of the movie The Yellow Submarine, and Eleanor already finds joy in it.
Tobe loved live music and attended many of Willie Nelson's 4th of July Picnics, and spent a lot of time at the Armadillo World Headquarters while in Austin. Later on as a family, we drove everywhere, visiting a dozen or more states. On road trips Tobe quizzed the kids about his favorite music. To this day, everyone knows and reports when they hear Stevie Ray Vaughan on the radio. He always cued up the right tune for the right occasion, such as crossing the Mississippi River to Paul Simon's Graceland.
As the kids got older, he took pride in chauffeuring them and their cousins and friends to concerts at venues across Central Texas, even to hear music he would not have chosen for himself. He was the go-to guy for late-night pick-ups and ferried many teenagers safely around town. He knew all the friends' names and took an interest in everyone. He was called the cool dad because he was the coolest dad.
On nights Tobe wasn't on pick-up duty he was on curfew duty. His La-Z-Boy got a regular workout as he popped the lever jolting himself awake and out of the chair as each child returned home from their night out. Nobody liked that part of coming home, but looking back everyone is grateful for how much he cared that we were home safe.
Tobe was born an animal lover. His first dog was named Bruno and bit everyone but Tobe. He loved to tell his children the story of a snapping turtle biting his face and not letting go. As a teenager, he brought home a baby armadillo someone was selling at a roadside flea market. He also brought home a feral kitten, numerous tadpoles, a turtle, and a duck. Tobe would do just about anything his children wanted, and when Bailey asked for a duck, Judy repeatedly and vehemently said NO, so, like any good husband, he called her on the phone one spring evening on his way home from work and said, "Listen to this!" Quack quack quack, she heard, and Daffy lived with us in harmony for seven long years. Tobe had three beloved dogs in adult life, all named to pay homage to the music he loved: Chelsea, Sadie, and Abbey. Abbey left us in June of last year.
Tobe helped change the skyline of Austin as Senior Project Manager with Austin Commercial where he worked for 25 years. While there he made many friends and enjoyed the perks of the job including attending shows at ACL Live during his tenure at the W Hotel, and having the rare ability to walk around the unfinished Q2 Stadium. He was sad to leave Austin, but ready to move on to be near his sweet granddaughter Eleanor.
Tobe was a graduate of Highland Park High School and the University of Texas at Austin where he shared many fun and sometimes dangerous times with his childhood best friend and the best man in his wedding, Tim Hendricks. He remains close to many of the friends he made in Dallas and Austin along the way.
Tobe met Judy while working in the Texas Senate Media Office. He died two days before their 40th wedding anniversary. Through all those years he took her on a wild ride and, with her, raised four wonderful children who have grown up to carry on many of his wonderful traits.
Tobe was a fun, kind, and gentle man. He had a way with numbers and an affinity for remembering names and faces. None of us quite know what we will do without him. But we know he is drawing a deep breath for the first time in years, and probably groovin' to Jimi Hendrix somewhere in the great beyond. And for that, we are grateful. We love you, Tobe.
Join us to raise a glass to Tobe at Scholz Garten,1607 San Jacinto Blvd., Austin, Texas 78701, on Saturday, July 13, 2024 from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. Bring a story to tell.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Tobe Wright Evans, please visit our flower store.
