By Kerri Pepoy,Staff Writer

NORWAY – Otis Evans could be counted on for a lot of things: his deep devotion to his job, his family, his country.

And he could always be counted on for a good story.

“He just had a story for everything,” his son, Otis Evans Jr., said Monday. “He did so much, and he certainly enjoyed sharing that information with friends and family.”

Evans, who lived in Paris, died Friday, Veterans Day, at the age of 85 at Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway. He served in the Oxford Police Department for 22 years, a job he loved.

“It was his passion,” his daughter, Alleen Eastwood, said Monday. Evans retired from the police force 10 years ago at the age of 75.

Police work was just one of the many ways Evans served his community. He also was employed by the county as a reserve corrections officer at the Oxford County Jail and as a bailiff for Oxford County Superior Court.

He served in the U.S. Army and was stationed in Africa during World War II. He was a truant officer for SAD 17 and a security guard for Hannaford and the Oxford Fairgrounds. He served as a volunteer firefighter in South Portland, where Eastwood and Evans Jr. grew up.

He was active in the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War and Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion organizations.

He even took a job as a greeter at the former Ames store in Oxford so he could continue to interact with people, Eastwood said. “He loved people; he loved doing things for them,” she said.

A funeral service will be held today for Evans at Andrews Funeral Home in Bryant Pond. He is survived by his wife, Grace, his two adult children, five adult grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren ranging in age from four months to 13. His sister, Bernice Swain, passed away four months ago, Eastwood said.

Evans is remembered as a man whose body had aged, but his mind, spirit and enthusiasm did not. “Dad never really retired from life,” Evans Jr. said.

Evans Jr. is retired from the Air Force with 20 years of service and described his father as a patriotic man who was committed to duty to one’s community and one’s country. “A lot of my fondest memories are discussing things we did during active duty,” he said.

Evans Jr., who worked with his father as a corrections officer at the jail, said his father had fallen last summer and injured himself, and that incident was virtually the only time his age showed itself. “Up until that point, he was so active you never thought he was 85,” he said. “He was a very positive person. My dad was not one to easily complain.”

Evans Jr. and Eastwood, a nurse at Maine Medical Center in Portland, said they wished their father could have survived to celebrate Christmas this year.

“He just adored Christmas,” Eastwood said. “His whole yard was decorated; his house was wall-to-wall decorations.”

Christmas decorating was done like clockwork. “It never failed. Every Thanksgiving he would start decorating,” Evans Jr. said.

As a fitting tribute, Eastwood said the family will place a Christmas tree at his gravesite.