Jack Evans, long-time vice president of fleet operations for Morse Operations, Inc., a multi-franchise dealership in Southern Florida, passed away just before midnight on Sunday, March 14 in a Ft. Lauderdale hospital of a heart attack. He was 82.

Evans was hired as vice president, fleet operations in 1982 by Ed Morse, the dealer principal, and he retained this position throughout his 19-year career with the dealership until he retired in 2001 at 79. Evans had the distinction of being one of the highest-volume fleet dealers in the country for Chevrolet, Cadillac, Dodge, Chrysler/Plymouth, and Toyota. In 1992, Evans sold 89,972 Chevrolet models to fleet buyers, a record for that year, which was more than twice the volume of the next closest Chevrolet dealership. In addition, Evans represented Bayview Cadillac, another Morse franchise, and was instrumental in making it one of the highest fleet volume Cadillac dealerships in the country, often ranked number one in fleet sales. Evans’ fleet customers were daily rental companies such as National, Avis, Alamo, Budget, Advantage, Dollar, and Thrifty.

Prior to joining Morse Operations, Evans worked for 34 years with General Motors for the Chevrolet Division before retiring in 1982. During his GM career, Evans worked in Chevrolet field sales operations. Evans was reassigned to Southern Florida, where he worked in Chevrolet Fleet Operations until he retired from GM. One of the GM dealers that Evans contacted as representative of Chevrolet was Morse Chevrolet in Ft. Lauderdale.

Evans was born in Buffalo, N.Y., on March 11, 1922. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps. as a navigator aboard a B-24 at the end of World War II in the Pacific Theatre, ferrying troops back to the U.S. from Japan.

Evans is survived by daughter, Mary Kay Little of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; son, John J. Evans of Coral Springs, Fla.; stepson, Robert A. Milward of Pompano Beach, Fla.; and five grandchildren. Evans was predeceased by two wives, Helen Evans (May 5, 1972) and Happy Evans (Oct. 24, 1995). Evans was buried in Buffalo on March 20.