Our beautiful boy, Justus Lee Evans, three years old, went to be with The Lord at 2:21 am on Sunday, May 3rd, 2020, at his home in Seguin, Texas, as we, his mama and papa, lay with him. He was diagnosed with DIPG, a type of brain tumor, in August of 2019. Justus won his race after nine months. He is survived by his parents, Joshua and Dwan Evans; his little brother, Uriah Jude Evans; his Grandparents, Jack and Sissy Evans, also known as "PawPaw and Gammy",  Mick and Janet Austin, also known as "Grandpa and Grandma"  and his, "Nana," Lauren Griffin, also surviving are many aunts, uncles, cousins and friends who loved him greatly.

Justus was born, after his mama labored for twenty hours, in New Braunfels, Texas, on May 27th, 2016 at 10:01pm. The first born son of Joshua Lee Evans and Dwan Griffin Evans had blue eyes, long eyelashes and rosy red cheeks. He frequently told people that his eyes were "blue like the ocean." Justus was a beautiful boy with a great sense of humor. While receiving treatments at St. Jude Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee that sense of humor helped keep our spirits up on more than one occasion. One lady at the local church we attended while in Memphis recounted this story of Justus in her children's church class. That morning, as she was teaching the kids about God giving the Israelites manna from heaven while wandering in the desert, Justus burst out "I like toast!" He knew what he liked.

Justus was also well-traveled.  At just three months of age he took his first plane ride and visited his first national park. Justus ended up visiting five countries, ten states, six National Parks and a dozen Texas State Parks. He was an explorer at heart. Justus was not the child that, when wandering off, you could wait with confidence that at any moment he would realize the distance between you and him and come running back with concern in his eyes. No. He was the kid that, if given provisions--perhaps a sippy cup of kombucha and some edamame (two of his favorites), and an open door would head off into the wilderness of this world, never looking back. This could hurt a parent's feelings if we weren't so proud and in awe of his independent spirit.

Besides camping and exploring, Justus loved dinosaurs and enjoyed learning all their names. We were impressed when he began recognizing and naming them. He would say "that's a Parasaurolophus," or point out that the Pachycephalosaurus was the one with a hard-domed head.

His interests didn't stop with dinosaurs. however. We soon learned that Justus liked to learn about and collect all kinds of things. He loved his informative "pamphlets" that he would get on his trips to the HEB Grocery Store. He became quite versed in sea animals, desert life, birds, bugs and even got into learning about and identifying different trees. He had an insatiable curiosity about the world around him. One question he posed comes to mind, "Maw, have you never seen a hot dog taking a haircut?" He had all kinds of questions.

He is now undoubtedly exploring the endless shores of Heaven and getting all the answers to his questions. Our temporary loss is Eternity's permanent gain.

Love you, Justus, and see you soon,

Mama and Papa a.k.a. Maw and Paw

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Pleasant Hills Children's Home in Justus's name.

A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, May 30th from 10 am to 2 pm on the grounds of Hillcrest Church, 1440 Eastwood Drive, Seguin, Texas, 78155. All are welcome to join us as we celebrate Justus. Him and his Mama had been planning a "dump truck gorilla" party. Look for the yellow dump truck and the giant gorilla.