Like some animals found at the Tulsa Zoo where he once worked, Tom Evanoff was a unique species.  Evanoff was unusually intelligent, possessed of both left- and right-brained tendencies, and comfortable in structured and unstructured worlds.  On January 5, 2024, Evanoff passed away due to complications associated with dementia in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.  He was 81.

Thomas Alexander Evanoff arrived in this world on September 6, 1942 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the second of three children born to Henry James and Alberta Kathleen (Knight) Evanoff.  Henry was the son of Yugoslavian immigrants whose family stopped in Indiana on the way to Iowa; Alberta’s family had been in Iowa a generation – she grew up in Belle Plaine.  Tom grew up with interests in science and art, especially the magic of animation.  His love of things Disney began at an early age.

After graduating from Washington High School in Cedar Rapids, Tom attended the University of Iowa, where he paid for school using scholarships he earned from various local businesses.  He graduated with degrees in math and physics, but he was equally interested in art.  When Tom later returned to graduate school at the University of Tulsa, he earned a master’s degree in art.

Unfortunately, the United States was expanding war efforts in Vietnam.  Despite repeated interviews with the Walt Disney Corporation for a position in their animation department, Evanoff knew he was about to be drafted.  To avoid being told what his role would be, he enlisted in the United States Navy; soon after he graduated from officer candidate school in Newport, Rhode Island.  A job offer from Disney came too late for Tom to avoid service.

About this time, the Navy found out that Evanoff took college courses to speak Russian.  At first, the Navy chose to investigate Tom for Communist Russia sympathies.  Tom subscribed to Russian magazines, but only to better translate the language.  The Navy, confident Evanoff was a patriot, offered to train Tom to become a spy, but espionage was not in his nature.  Tom wanted to serve on a submarine or fly planes.

Ensign Evanoff attended pilot training in Pensacola, Florida where he became a navigator for reconnaissance missions.  Toward the end of his service, his squadron performed reconnaissance over Laos at a time when President Richard Nixon said the United States was not in Laotian air space.  In fact, a plane in his squadron was shot down over Laos; he would lose his best friend, Ramey Carpenter, to a remote jungle not to be found for more than 30 years.  Carpenter left behind a wife, the former Kay Irene King, and their daughter, Stacia (now Stacia Green).  Tom returned to his naval base and looked after Kay and Stacia.  Tom loved both of them; he would marry Kay and adopt Stacia as his own daughter.  A year later, Tom and Kay welcomed a second daughter, Jeanne (now Jeanne Proia), to the family and they moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where Tom would take a job as the Director of Exhibits for the Tulsa Zoo.

The Tulsa Zoo was perfect for a man of Tom Evanoff’s many talents. For three decades, Evanoff supervised building construction and exhibit designs as the Tulsa Zoo expanded its public halls and animal encounters. He built complex displays that allowed zoo visitors to learn how elephants used their trunks or how dinosaurs could perform various physical functions. His unique art skills contributed to fun and informative signs as well as creative backdrops for animal enclosures. His sense of humor, equal parts inventive and editorial, can still be seen in various displays in the zoo some twenty years after his retirement. He earned regular citations, mostly for exemplary work, but occasionally for a playful willingness to bend rules or challenge government bureaucracy.

His zoo career gave Tom freedom to be a wonderful husband and father. He doted on Kay, becoming an expert cook and taking care of a busy home. Together, they assembled a large collection of Disney artwork and collectibles covering eighty years of Americana. Tom was the coolest dad – building unique Halloween costumes, helping with school projects, or bringing home domesticated zoo animals to stay at their home for short periods. He loved both roles – he enjoyed being Kay’s husband, and he loved being a father to two girls. Though he generally eschewed most social situations, Tom was always good company to his family and friends.

Tom continued creating art during his retirement. He designed and decorated their home in Alabama. A remarkable sculptor working with discarded items and different types of clays and paints, he created unique toys and personalized toy boxes for his grandson, Casey Proia.

Evanoff retired to Orange Beach, AL – a short drive from the naval pilot training center he attended 35 years earlier. Recently, he and Kay moved to Tennessee to be closer to family.

In lieu of flowers or gifts, please consider donating to the Tulsa Zoo in Tom Evanoff’s name using one of the following methods:

Tulsa Zoo Donation Website

Email Contact: development@tulsazoo.org

Tulsa Zoo
Attention: Development
6421 E. 36th St. North
Tulsa, OK 74115.