Samuel Harry Evert

Samuel Harry Evert, Sr., age 93, of Country Club Drive, Bloomsburg and Devonshire Way, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, passed away on Monday, March 15, 2010 at the Jupiter Medical Center in Jupiter, Florida. Sam was born on Saturday, August 5, 1916 in Kulpmont, Pennsylvania, the son of the late Harry Sylvester and Dodie (Wragg) Evert. He was a 1934 graduate of the Dickinson Seminary (Lycoming College's Predecessor Institution) in Williamsport and attended the University of Pennsylvania for a year before joining the family lumber business in Kulpmont, Pennsylvania. He was the owner and founder of the former S.H. Evert Construction Company founded in 1941, and was involved in the Federal Housing Administration in Virginia during World War II until his family moved to Bloomsburg in 1946. Sam was responsible for many major construction projects in Universities across Pennsylvania such as the Penn State, Bloomsburg, Bucknell and Susquehanna University. Other major construction projects were completed in a large number of hospitals, factories, and schools across Pennsylvania including the Bloomsburg Area Senior High School, W. W. Evans Memorial Elementary School, Southern Columbia Area High School, and Columbia-Montour Area Vocational Technical School. Sam operated the S.H. Evert Construction Company until his retirement in 1976. He was a member of the St. Matthew Lutheran Church, where he served on the Church Council for many years. He was active in Boy Scouts of America and was a past president of the Columbia-Montour Boy Scout Council, earning the Silver Beaver Award in 1967. Sam was also a member of the First Presbyterian Church in North Palm Beach, Florida. Sam was a past President of the Kulpmont Lions Club and headed the committee to purchase the first ambulance in Kulpmont; an active member of the Masonic Bodies; and past President of the Keystone Builder's Association. He served on the Board of the Bloomsburg Area Industrial Development Authority, the Geisinger Medical Center, and the Bloomsburg Hospital. He was a director on the Bloomsburg School Board and served as its President in 1957. He was also a director on the County Board. He was President and Director of the Dime Deposit Bank and was a Director for the former Bloomsburg Bank-Columbia Trust Co., currently the First Columbia Bank and Trust Company. In 1969, he became a member of the Lycoming College Board of Trustees and was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Law Degree in 1988 for outstanding service and leadership. He also served on the Board of Directors for Susquehanna University for 14 years, and was elected as an emeritus member in 1984. In 2002, Susquehanna University awarded him an Honorary Doctor of Law Degree. He was an avid international sport fisherman and a member of many domestic and international deep sea fishing associations. In 1973, he became the defending champion of the Invitational Masters Angling Tournament at the Sailfish Club of Palm Beach, Florida, which was the most prestigious sailfish tournament of the year. He was also past President of the Frosty Valley Country Club in Danville. Surviving is his beloved wife of 72 years, Dorothy (Wallen) Evert, married on October 2, 1937 in the All Saints Lutheran Church in Kulpmont, Pennsylvania; two daughters: Carol A. Ent of Bloomsburg and Sandra E. Giunta and her husband Aldo of Goshen, New York; two sons: Harry S. Evert and his wife Lynn of Palm City, Florida and Samuel H. Evert, Jr. and his wife Jane of Scottsdale, Arizona; ten grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. Friends will be received on Tuesday, March 23 from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. from the St. Matthew Lutheran Church, 123 North Market Street, Bloomsburg. Funeral Services will begin at 1 p.m. from the Church with his pastor, Rev. Joel L. Zieders, officiating. Interment will follow at Elan Memorial Park, Espy. The Evert Family is being assisted by the Allen Funeral Home, 745 Market at Eighth Street in Bloomsburg. Memorial contributions in Samuel's name are suggested to the Boy Scouts of America, 5 Audubon Center, Bloomsburg, PA 17815 or St. Matthew Lutheran Church, 123 North Market Street, Bloomsburg, PA 17815.

Samuel Harry Evert

August 5, 1916 - March 15, 2010