Daniel J. Evans, former governor of Washington and U.S. Senator, died Friday at the age of 98.
In a statement given to The Seattle Times, sons Dan Jr., Mark and Bruce Evans wrote that their father lived an exceptionally full life. “Whether serving in public office, working to improve higher education, mentoring aspiring public servants … he just kept signing up for stuff right until the end. He touched a lot of lives. And he did this without sacrificing family”, the newspaper reported.
Before he got into politics, the Republican, three-term Washington governor and one-term U.S. Senator studied engineering at the University of Washington. And he cut his teeth helping design the old Alaskan Way Viaduct along the Seattle waterfront in the early 1950s.
Longtime Washington journalist and public TV host Enrique Cerna got to know former Washington governor Daniel J. Evans pretty well over the decades. He remembers him as a consummate politician. But with a practical twist.
“I think it was his engineering background that allowed him to accomplish all those things, but also to do so many things for the state of Washington,” Cerna said.