Dr. James R. Evans, a family practice physician who specialized in elderly care, died of an infection April 22 at Howard County General Hospital. The Ellicott City resident was 75.

Born in Cumberland, he was the son of Francis “Jim” Evans, a buyer for the Allegany Ballistics Laboratory and Arlene Bowers, a Baltimore and Ohio Railroad worker. After graduating from Allegany High School, where he played baseball, he graduated from West Virginia University and the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

He met his future wife, Linda A. Davalli Evans, at a dance.

“He had asked another girl to dance and she said ‘No,’ ” she said. “So he turned around and I was the first girl he spotted and I said, ‘Yes.’ After that, nothing happened, then he called me two weeks later just as I was going out the door. I happened to hear the phone ring.”

He practiced medicine at the Bon Secours Washington Village Medical Center in Southwest Baltimore and the Charlestown Retirement Community. In later years, he was on the staff of an Ascension Saint Agnes outpatient primary care unit.

“He understood the value of observation, analysis and thoughtful care,” said his son-in-law, Gregory P. Lambert. “He was an excellent diagnostician and used tests to confirm what he already knew, rather than to identify the problem.

“He was a doctor who knew how to read the body, not merely blood work or MRI reports,” his son-in-law said. “He emphasized honesty with his patients and sometimes the answers were elusive. His patients benefited from that candor. If he didn’t know what was wrong, he made sure that they knew he was an ally in their care.”

His daughter, Laura Lambert, said, “He was an old-school physician. At the time that house calls were being phased out, he was still making them. He liked to talk with his patients and share the joyful parts of his life with them.”

“Jim gladly gave his personal cellphone number to anyone he could help,” said his son-in-law. “And if they called in the middle of the night, he took that call.”

His daughter said her father was a devoted family patriarch and would often “ambush strangers with videos of his grandchildren.”

Dr. Evans and his wife were world travelers. He visited numerous national parks. He also played golf at the Turf Valley Golf Club.

A Mass of Christian burial was held April 30 at St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Ellicott City. Survivors include his wife, Linda A. Davalli Evans, an adult education teacher; two daughters, Laura M. E. Lambert of Fulton and Christina A. E. Rodriguez of Ellicott City; and four grandchildren.

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