Rockton veteran honored with memorial cruise, ‘He was my best friend’

ROCKTON, Ill. (WTVO) — After the sudden passing of 73-year-old Tom Evans, his friends and family organized a way to celebrate his life, using the thing he loved most: cars.

As a car enthusiast, Evans was an active member of the Obsessive Car Disorder Club. Through this club, he met various community members and attended numerous car cruises. Because of this, his fellow members wanted to do something special in his honor. According to his life partner of 23 years, Mary Frew, they orchestrated a plan almost immediately.

“We were actually still at the hospital in the emergency room because that’s where they took him, up at Beloit Memorial,” Frew said. “A lot of the guys came up there, they were sitting around with me for like five and a half hours, so they had a lot of time to think. They decided they wanted to do something in his honor.”

They orchestrated a memorial cruise and invited other clubs in the area to bring their finest vehicles and drive by Evans’ house. The police department gave them an escort and shut down the street to allow the cars to take their time while driving by. Nearly 100 cars showed up.

“This is such an awesome group of guys,” Frew said. “I mean, there’s all kinds of clubs in this area, and they’re all gathering tonight. It’s unbelievable how everybody is turning out for this.”

Evans was an army veteran who served during from 1970-1976. His friends showed their respect to him by waving flags out of the cars and honking as they passed by Frew and other family members that were gathered at the house.

One neighbor and friend Max Rykowski said the event was orchestrated once before for another fallen cruiser and they plan to continue this tradition in the future.

“What we’re trying to do is we’re trying to make a positive impact in the community,” Rykowski said. “That’s the main thing. Trying to bring all these clubs together, all the individuals together to show that we can still be positive in the community and do the right thing to honor a fallen cruiser.”

Frew said she was overwhelmed with the day and was extremely grateful.

“I knew he was liked, but this goes even beyond that,” Frew said. “I mean, he was loved. They all express that through emails and everything to me on Facebook. It just hits my heart so much. He was my love. He was my best friend.”

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