Former newspaper owner Eileen Evans dies at 92

Sep 1, 2023

JULIA HUNTER
Wisconsin Newspaper Association

Eileen Mary Evans, who owned several newspapers with her husband, Alfred, died on Wednesday, July 26, at Mayo Clinic Hospital in Rochester. She was 92.

Born the first of 13 children on March 31, 1931, in International Falls, Minnesota, to Romeo and Marie Karsnia, she married Alfred R. Evans, a native of western Nebraska, on Oct. 16, 1950. The couple met at a dance in Canada while he was working for the newspaper in International Falls. After they married, the couple moved across the country before settling in LeRoy, Minnesota, about three decades ago.

Evans, who worked as a journalist for her high school newspaper, began a professional career in 1963 at The Atkinson-Annawan (Illinois) News. She and her husband owned and managed several weekly newspapers in Illinois, including the Orion Times, Port Byron Globe and Wyanet Eagle and the Hillsboro Sentry-Enterprise in Wisconsin from 1980 to 1984. In Hillsboro, Eileen played a major role, writing stories and helping to manage the business. They later purchased the LeRoy (Minnesota) Independent and the Lime Springs (Iowa) Herald.

Many of their 14 living children followed in their career footsteps, including Greg Evans, who owns Evans Print + Media Group in Sparta, Wisconsin.