Evans
Home of Sherman and Peggy Evans (Number 55 on the 1958 Highland map - 4670 W. 11200 N.)
Sherman Ralph & Mary Ellen “Peggy” Gunderson Evans
Highland is not a long distance from Sherman's birthplace but a long way from Peggy's and a long way from where they met. Sherman was born April 9, 1920, in Lehi, Utah to Hyrum C. and Elizabeth Laura Robinson Evans. He graduated from Lehi High School and volunteered for the Marines right after Pearl Harbor and served four years, stationed mostly in the South Pacific on the battleship "Pennsylvania".
Peggy was born January 23, 1923, in Eau Claire, Wisconsin to Guy and Sarah Loretta Larson Gunderson. After high school graduation she attended college for a while then enlisted in the Navy for an eighteen month commitment. She worked in the Naval Post Office in San Francisco where she met Sherman. They were married July 20, 1945, in San Diego, California. They lived in a variety of places: San Joaquin Valley, Wyoming, Idaho, Cedar City, Utah and other places where Sherman was a builder of towers, bridges, etc. While living in Lehi he learned of a fifteen acre farm owned by Ray Benson in Highland, bought it and moved in early in 1956 (Number 55 on the 1958 Highland map - 4670 W. 11200 N.).
They sold seven acres and donated one acre to the county for a road, then grew pasture, hay and grain on the rest. The couple spent many hours riding their horses in American Fork Canyon.
One vivid remembrance Peggy has concerns the well-known Highland blizzards. During one of them she and daughter Hope were heading to Primary and got stuck in a drift somewhere east of the Church. They started walking east to the Alpine Highway, but got so cold they turned back and made it to Fred Buhler's place (Number 78 on the 1958 Highland map - 5865 W. 10400 N.) and warmed themselves awaiting rescue by Sherman. She worked a lot with cub scouts both in Highland and at the Utah State Training School. She also worked as a clinical instructor at the same school.
Sherman continued to work in the iron construction business until his retirement in the early 1980's because of arthritis, heart problems and lung troubles. He died May 4, 1986, in Highland, and she passed away on June 14, 2007, while residing in Sandy, Utah.
Source: HIGHLAND HISTORY: A compilation by Charles T Greenland II for the Highland Historical Society
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