Jack Wilson Evans was born August 13, 1922. At the age of 14, he began work at a grocery store and eventually became Chairman an C.E.O. of the A.W. Cullum & Company, parent company of the Tom Thumb grocery chain. His public service life included Chairmanship for the "Dallas Citizens Council", Executive Director of the "Dallas Area Rapid Transit", and leadership in the bond program for the new Dallas Museum of Art.
On April 4, 1981, he was elected Dallas Mayor. During his two year term, he began the groundwork for the regional transit system, the formation of the "Arts District", expansion of the Dallas Convention Center, the reconstruction of Central Expressway, and secured for Dallas the 1984 GOP Republican National Convention. In 1982, hr founded the "Dallas Mayor's Committee for the Employment of People with Disabilities.: His goal, to "make Dallas the model city for the world," included bringing new technology to the Police Department, addressing urban crime, and reinstitution of the Police Awards Banquet. He also initiated plans for the "Dallas Police Memorial." He stated, "Most important is the safety of our people." Awarded the Henry Cohn Humanitarian Award prior to his death in 1997, his ability to bring consensus, and to seek all view points, made him "Mayor for all the People." He had a "will for action", and "was decisive, but never unkind", and "approached people with warmth, insight, and deep humanity.
