Welcome to the Caribou Club Memorial page for Virgil Evans. 
As with all our pages, this is a work in progress. 
We invite you to contribute any photos, stories, or words to this memorial. Virg's page will stay up indefinitely, (although probably not for eternity). 


April 12, 2025
I'm stopped in my tracks today..... Father, Educator, Musical Virtuoso, Buck Meadows Band Member, Lifelong Friend and Caribou, Virg Evans, passed away peacefully at home Los Osos last night in the company of his 4 children. Virg battled colon cancer for 10 years, and it finally caught up to him. He would have been 80 in November.


Below is a photo of Virg and his children taken last year in Morro Bay.


Table for Evans: Susan and Bill Evans, (Virg's brother), Virg's son Chris and daughter Elizabeth, and Virg enjoy a glass of wine in a California Vineyard.

 Bill asks:
Was Virg Evans ambidextrous?   Yes?  No?  Neither?
Virg threw a ball lefthanded.  
He ate with a fork or spoon righthanded.
In tennis he served lefthanded, but hit groundstrokes righthanded.
He wrote with his right hand.
So what was he?
However, as for musical instruments, he played all of them (and there were many) righthanded!




        
          Below, Virg and Gene try to do justice to these fine instruments. 
Above, here's a photo of Virg with the legendary Church Hill Singers in 1963 just before going onstage for one of the five sets we performed each day at Disneyland. Can you guess the others in that photo?


And below, here they are back in Las Vegas for a Church Hill Singers reunion with some of their loyal fans. L to R: Gene Meyer, Dennis Watson, Dick Perry, Virg, Chuck Collazzi, Bob DeSales, and Pat Leahy. Sorry, no autographs.

Jess and her Dad



Above: Virg, Chuck, and 
Virg Evans Senior, a premier studio session trumpet player in LA. 
and a member of the famed "Wrecking Crew." 
Let's hear it for three members in good standing, 
(at least when this photo was taken) 
of LA Musicians' Union Local 47






Below: Virg's wonderful Mom, Bea, here with Sherri Collazzi and Virg. 
Bea Evans is the first person I ever heard use the word "Groovy," 
and she was definately that!
 
Here's a photo of Gene and Virg at the beginning of Covid, when it was recommended that people practice social distancing. Here we are staying away from each other and playing my banjo.




Below, here's one of the first 
Buck Meadows for President buttons ever produced. 
Virg was instrumental, (pun intended) in launching 
Buck Meadows to dubious fame.
Watch for Buck to run for President again in 2028.
To see Buck's page, click below



Virg's son Chris Evans (with friend to left), along with Notre Dame Classmate ('63) and fellow surfer Bill McMenamin, and Virg hang out at a Caribou Club Campout in Ventura.





Below, this may take some explaining. 
One of Virg's many jobs in his illustrious career was as a security guard for the legendary Pinkerton Security Company. Chuck had this Renaissance costume to shoot a cover for an album he was playing jazz guitar on, (Paul Horn...look it up). Well, hanging around with nothing else to do, they created this scene of Virgil, (with pillow stomach) busting Chuck on an offense, (probably sideburns out of control).   
 
Dick's guitar, Gene, Virg and Chuck hang out at a hotel 
after a reunion concert in the 90's.


Below, Virg and Family hang out.

The two best musicians at any campout, Virg and Chuck.


Below: I hope Virg didn't have a key for that plane. 


Victoria Ebert Maro
My heart aches, so sorry to know of Virgil’s passing, he was one of a kind. So many wonderful memories of Virgil and the Church Hill Singers, no one played the banjo like Virgil. Beautiful family, rest in peace dear friend.

Chuck, Virg, Gene, Veda, and Mike Young 
join forces for a kazoo song at a Caribou Campout.



Below, Chuck's Daughter, Joanna, Chuck, Penny Spain, and Virg 
hang out at the beach.

Below, The twins, Elizabeth and Rebecca, 
try to convince their Dad to steal this sign from a British Pub in Greece.
 
Above and below: The Church Hill Singers perform in 100 degrees for 
Debbie Young's 50th Birthday Bash. 



Above: Virg, Gene and Chuck use their bugle skills to liven up a 
Veterans' Day Caribou Poker Party



Below: More shots of Chuck, Virg and Gene, Playing a campout as well as singing "Zombie Jamboree" at a Santa Monica Caribou Beach breakfast. 
Above: Caribou Poker Party survivors the next morning: Dennis Watson, Gene Meyer, Tom Campbell, Terry Coultas, Tim Donnelly, (with winner's trophy), John McLaughlin, Paul Atkinson, Chuck Collazzi, Pat Leahy, and Virg


Virgil Palmer Evans Junior was born November 23, 1945 in West Point, New York, where his father was serving in the Army as a trumpet player in the West Point Band. In 1967, Junior returned to West Point, in a new Army uniform, (not his). He managed to stay clear of the West Point Stockade, (which would have obviously tarnished the glowing reputation of Virg Sr).

I first met Virg at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California, when he came up to me one day and asked if I would teach him banjo. When we got together a few weeks later, I immediately became the bass player (and the retired banjo player) in what would be our band, The Church Hill Singers, a legendary quartet that also included two other dubious NDHS graduates Chuck Collazzi and Dick Perry. Virg was the star, the banjo picker renown, and he got us many gigs, especially at Disneyland.


After high school, we all went on to higher paid union gigs and tours, so Virg ended up working with the likes of Bing Crosby, Johnny Mathis, Judy Garland, Tennessee Ernie Ford, as well as playing on many TV shows and recording sessions, (banjo, guitar and trumpet) with other top notch session musicians.

  

But Virg also had a serious spiritual side, full of philosophy and religion. In 1968, he was accepted to King’s College, University of London, where he was awarded a Doctor of Divinity degree. This made him an Episcopal priest. He was assigned to The Bishop’s Preparatory School in La Jolla, where he stayed for 3 years. But the priesthood wasn’t for him.


Virg left the priesthood and, after a stint in the Ventura County Fire Department, became a high school counselor. He worked in Southern California (Monroe HS, Villanova  Prep), but he spent most of his counseling years up north in the Bishop school district, (Yolo County Department of Education).


The Kingston Trio? All deceased. Bud and Travis? Adios. The Limeliters? All dead. Peter Paul and Mary? Gone to the Promised land. The Church Hill Singers? We just lost our first and youngest! 


Virg is survived by his four cool children: daughter Jessica, son Chris, and twin daughters Elizabeth and Rebecca. Virg is also survived by his brother Bill Evans of New York, and his wife, Susan. I must conclude by mentioning (he would want it) that Virg converted to Catholicism at about age 50 and remained a devout Catholic for the remainder of his life). 

So long, Junior. Let me know if they have sub sandwiches where you're going!

Gene Meyer


 

 
Requia scat en pacem...Rest in Peace.