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The Evans Funeral Home of Athens, TN was founded in 1884 by Thomas and Lillian Edgemon Evans.
Thomas Evans, a native of Cornwall, England, came to the United States as a stowaway on a
boat arriving in Mobile, Alabama. Thomas made his way into the McMinn and Meigs County area
where he met Lillian Edgemon Evans. He was a painter and carpenter by trade and Mrs. Evans
later on became the first licensed Woman embalmer in the state of Tennessee. Thomas and
Lillian settled in Athens and had eight children. Not long after establishing Evans
Funeral Home, the death of Thomas Evans occurred. The oldest child, Harry R. Evans,
age thirteen, dropped out of school and began assisting his mother in the operation
of the business. Mrs. Evans was very active in the business until her death in 1944.
The business continued to be operated by her son, Harry R. Evans and a nephew until
being purchased by Jerry and Shirley Smith in February 1964.
A few months after purchasing the business, the name was changed to Evans-Smith Funeral
Home. Jerry soon realized that the Funeral Home’s present facility was not adequate
to serve the public as they should be served. Immediate plans were made to try to
locate an adequate piece of property that would provide space for a complete modern
funeral home with ample parking facilities.
Ground was broken for the new Evans-Smith Funeral home in March of 1966. In October, 1966, a lifetime dream of Jerry Smith was realized. A new modern building, which was the first erected in McMinn County specifically for the use of a funeral home, to serve the citizens of McMinn and Meigs Counties.