George Albert Evans Jr., the former owner and president of Monotype Composition Co. who enjoyed collecting vintage autos, playing the organ and making apple cider, died July 20 of complications from a stroke at Keswick Multi-Care Center. The longtime Towson resident was 82.
Mr. Evans was born in Baltimore and raised on Bayonne Avenue. He was a 1944 graduate of Boys' Latin School and attended the University of Baltimore, where he studied law.
He enlisted in the Navy in 1945 and served as a printer aboard the aircraft carrier USS Leyte until being honorably discharged in 1946.
In 1939, Mr. Evans' working life began with a typesetting apprenticeship in the family business, Monotype Composition Co., which had been established in 1920 by his father at Pratt and Hanover streets.
He later headed the sales department and then succeeded his father as president of the typesetting company after his father died in 1962.
"His career spanned significant technological changes, including the introduction of computers and desktop publishing, and he successfully guided the company through many formidable changes," said his son, Glenn Evans of Monkton.
"His company was the largest type machine composition house south of Philadelphia, and our companies were intertwined through the years. We used to purchase slugs of type from George whenever we had manuscripts to print," said C. William "Bill" Schneidereith Jr., former owner of Schneidereith & Sons, a Baltimore printing company.
"He was a very unique individual. I remember the first time I went to see George, and I was a little apprehensive," Mr. Schneidereith said. "He had model trains in his office, and I'm a model train enthusiast. I guess we talked about trains for an hour before we did any business."
Mr. Evans retired in 1990.
Since 1963, Mr. Evans and his wife of 57 years, the former Augusta "Gussie" Wriede, lived in a 175-year-old farmhouse on Providence Road that they restored. They called it "Evans Heaven."
Mr. Evans made friends easily.
"He took a genuine interest in the lives of thousands of people he met during his life, many of whom became lifelong friends," his son said. "Language and nationality was no barrier, and friends from other countries were a common fixture at family gatherings, where they were made to feel like long-lost family."
"He had a serious side but could be a prankster at times," Mr. Schneidereith said, laughing.
One Sunday in the early 1960s, family members said, he rented a horse-drawn a-rab wagon from a stable near his office and took his family on a leisurely tour of downtown Baltimore -- oblivious to the blaring horns of frustrated motorists as he tied up traffic while clip-clopping through city streets.
"One snowy night, he towed his children around the neighborhood on sleds behind his jeep," his son recalled. "They shrieked in delight whenever sparks flew when the runners hit bare pavement."
Wishing to relive his childhood, Mr. Evans brought a pony home one day. But the animal refused to be corralled and enjoyed wandering through the neighborhood. "One time, he had to fish it out of a neighbor's pool. Finally, he donated it to the Baltimore Zoo," his son said.
His collection of antique vehicles included a retired 1940s-era fire engine, which he liked driving in area parades.
"I remember he'd have seven or eight cars -- I think the were all '57 Chevys -- parked out front, and people wouldn't visit because they thought we had company," Glenn Evans said.
A self-taught organist, Mr. Evans enjoyed playing big-band and country music songs, and two of his favorites: "Peg O' My Heart" and "Satin Doll."
Mr. Evans, an experienced cider maker, enjoyed traveling around in autumn and filling up his truck with apples donated by friends and family. He took the fruit home and pressed it in an antique cider mill.
"He loved to have fun and was always looking for fun," his son said.
Mr. Evans was a longtime member of the Providence Volunteer Fire Co. and Valley Presbyterian Church, where services were held Tuesday.
Also surviving are three daughters, Barbara Evans of Marco Island, Fla., Carol Lewis of Monkton and Elizabeth Asher of San Diego; and four grandchildren. Another daughter, Diane Warwick, died in 1989.
fred.rasmussen@baltsun.com