Leroy Evans has cut the hair of Marine Col. Stephen Liszewski, the commandant of the Naval Academy, ever since Liszewski was a young plebe.

The haircut is clean, sharp — and certainly within regulation — but what keeps Liszewski going back to the Naval Academy barbershop is the connection with Evans.

“You sit there, and he tells you about life,” Liszewski said.

“What comes through is what's important to him: his family.”

Evans, 78, and fellow academy barber Marge Burton, 66, will cut midshipmen's hair for the last time next week.

The two barbers, who started at the academy the same day 34 years ago, plan to retire July 1.

Adm. Samuel Locklear, a 1977 academy graduate and former commandant of midshipmen, said Evans has cut his hair since he was a company officer. He called his barber “an icon in the community and at the academy.”

The two have maintained a close professional relationship — Locklear invited Evans to change-of-command ceremonies in Italy and Hawaii.

“He has qualities of honesty and integrity that have been infectious for the midshipmen that have come to know him,” he said. “Me included.”

“Your barber knows more about you than your doctor,” Locklear said. “These folks in the barbershops are mentors to decades of young leaders.”

Burton has lived in Maryland since 1953, when her father was stationed at Fort Meade.

When she started at the academy in 1982 — two years after the first female midshipmen graduated — the culture in the shop mirrored the one on the Yard.

“They didn't really want the female barbers here — or the female midshipmen here, either,” she said. “Some of the barbers didn't like the idea of a woman having what is a considered a male-dominated profession.”

But times changed, Burton said. The decision to retire was difficult.

“I've been here half of my life,” she said.

Fellow barber Paula Clarke called Burton one of the hardest workers in the shop.

“She's a legend here,” she said. “We're going to miss her.”

Evans said he's retiring to spend more time with his family.

“I don't want to leave. I get along with everybody,” he said. “But I want to help with my grandchildren.”

That decision is true to character, Liszewski said. Evans has often reminded him of the importance of balancing work and family life.

It's just part of the advice Evans delivers to midshipmen in and out of the shop, he said.

“He's the kind of man, when he sees something wrong, he gets people on the right path,” Liszewski said.

Evans has enjoyed seeing midshipmen grow into leaders — and on occasion coming back to visit.

“It makes me feel good,” he said.

Evans and Burton will get one more chance to mold tomorrow's leaders. Their last day, July 1, is Induction Day, when a new batch of plebes get their buzz and collar-length cuts.

On that day, academy barbers pack the shop up and bring the tools of their trade to Alumni Hall to perform 1,100 haircuts in one day.

Evans will lead the effort for the last time.

“He's got to teach everybody else how to do it,” Liszewski said.

“Next year, they're going to have to figure it out.”