Longtime NCHA member Dan Evans of Canal Winchester, Ohio, passed away December 24. Dan had worked his way up through the family business, Bob Evans Farms, to be CEO of the sausage company.

He got started in cutting more than 25 years ago, with a long-standing relationship with trainer Chuck Smith. One of the highlights of his cutting career was winning the 1991 Congress Non-pro Futurity on Leo San Gin.

He started with Bob Evans Farms in 1956, working the company’s sausage production plant in Xenia. In 1959, he became manager of the Bob Evans Farms sausage production plant in Bidwell. Five years later, he moved to the corporate headquarters, as executive vice president of Bob Evans Farms. Dan was elected to chairman of the board and chief executive officer in 1971, succeeding his father, Emerson Evans, the company’s founding board chairman and chief executive officer.

Dan retired as chief executive officer in 2000, from chairman of the board in 2001, and from the board in 2006, with 50 years of service to the firm. He also served on the board of directors of several other companies, among them Sherwin-Williams, Motorists Mutual Insurance Company, National City Bank, and National City Corporation.

Dan is survived by his wife, Temmy Evans; children, Larry (Anita) Evans, Lancaster, Janie ( John) Kantner, Canal Winchester, Stacy (Joel) Lilly, Upper Arlington, Ryan Pressel-Evans, Cincinnati, Lynn (Michael) Steinberg, Chapel Hill, NC, Erica (Michael) Wendt, Chandler, AZ, Tyler Mossor, Scottsdale, AZ.

A public memorial service will be held at 2pm on Thursday, December 30, 2010 at Meadow Park Church of God, 2425 Bethel Road, Columbus, Ohio 43220 with the Rev. Dr. Robert I. Mathis officiating.

In lieu of flowers, friends may contribute to CS Cutters (Dan Evans Fund), PO Box 23, Canal Winchester, OH 43110