Emyr Evans

We have learned, with great sadness, of the passing of Dr Emyr (Em) Evans on 25 April 2026.

The following is adapted from the eulogy read at Dr Evans’ funeral.

Emyr Evans was born on 19 March 1939 in Caersws, Powys to Richard and Elizabeth Evans. He joined his much older stepbrother John, though John soon left for London when Em was still very young, so in many ways Em grew up as an only child. But it was a happy childhood, rooted in that small Welsh community he would remain deeply connected to throughout his life.

From early on, it was clear that Em had two great gifts: a sharp mind, and a love of sport. At Newtown Grammar School he excelled academically, particularly in Maths and Physics, applying himself with a quiet determination that would carry him far. He enjoyed football, cricket and athletics, throwing himself into each with enthusiasm. Playing at full back for the Caersws FC team in the 1950s, he was part of the side that won the Welsh Amateur Cup.

He went on to Aberystwyth University to study Physics, where he earned a first-class degree and stayed on for a PhD. After completing his PhD (not without drama, including a serious lab explosion that left him needing treatment at Liverpool Eye Hospital) Dr Emyr Evans began his career as a Physics lecturer in London.

In 1966, he moved to Leicester, a city that would become his home, living at Villiers Halls of Residence, where he became deputy warden. He was appointed Lecturer in Physics from 1 October, and was part of the Ionospheric Physics Group. He took roles as senior administrative tutor and later departmental administrator. Later still he became Sub Dean of the Faculty of Science, and finally Associate Dean for Combined Science until his retirement. From 1988 he served on the University Senate.

In September 1974, Em met Cathie in the common room at Villiers Hall. They became a couple that same year. Though they had intended to marry in 1976, they did so in 1986 at the Immaculate Conception Church in Oadby. Together, they made their home on Harborough Road, and together they explored the world. From their honeymoon in India to journeys across Thailand, China, Russia, Egypt, Jordan and Israel, Em’s meticulous planning turned travel into adventure. Later, he took full charge of organising trips: safaris in South Africa, visits to Australia, the USA and Canada, often weaving in reunions with old friends along the way.

His passion for sport never left him. If he wasn’t playing, he was watching, especially Welsh rugby. He became a keen Leicester Tigers supporter, and later in life discovered golf, a game he wished he’d taken up sooner, enjoying many happy days at Glen Gorse and on golf tours with friends. 

He gave so much of himself to others: through football with Oadby Old Boys, later Oadby Wyvern; through cricket matches he organised between Oadby and Caersws; through his work at the university, where he eventually moved into student recruitment, travelling widely and even innovating with promotional films… which ended with an unintended encounter with the police after a suspicious helicopter flight over Leicester Prison.

In his later years, life became more challenging. Em faced health difficulties with the same quiet resilience that had defined him throughout. Cathie cared for him at home with extraordinary devotion. In 2023, she and friends were able to take him back to Caersws, to his first home, the recreational ground, the train station. Later that year, after another stroke, Em moved to Aigburth Care Home - poignantly, right next to Villiers Hall, where he and Cathie had first met. From his window, he could see the place where their story had started.

On Saturday 25 April 2026, Emyr Evans passed away, peacefully, cared for and surrounded by the echoes of a life so richly lived.

Professor Ken Pounds writes:

"My personal recollections of Em relate mainly to our joint efforts in local sport, mostly in playing for Oadby Wyvern football club in various divisions of the Leicester City league. Wyvern was an unusual club, formed over drinks in the Wheel pub by a group of elderly graduates reminiscing over their playing days at university. It was very likely the oldest and most highly educated team in the county. Em played left back, as he had at Bangor, with John Smith (Cambridge) at right back, while I (ex UCL and London) stayed up front to avoid too much heading of the heavy leather ball in wet conditions. Wyvern went both up and down over the divisions during the years Em and I played together, with an abiding memory being the shocked faces of an aspiring local team, who - having started confidently against the grey-heads - found themselves three goals down at half time! Em also played golf - at a modest level - but was outstanding at squash, where I rarely could 'give him a game'. As both academic colleague and long-term friend, Em was just 'the best', always willing to help out when needed - and totally reliable. As predicted elsewhere, he is much missed."

Dr Kim Page writes:

"Emyr Evans was the first person I met in the Physics department when I visited to look around in summer 1995 and he was a kind and helpful figure throughout my studies. I bumped into him not long after I started working on the Swift satellite, and, upon hearing the name of the mission, he made a joke about needing a PhD in X-ray Astronomy to drive for the Swift taxi company in Leicester - good Welsh sense of humour!"