My condolences to the family. 

May God help you and keep you in this difficult time. 

Friends and family of Evan,

My name is Rob Lyons and I was in Kappa Phi Epsilon Christian fraternity with Evan. I joined Kappa Phi Epsilon one year after Evan (Alpha Alpha) in Fall of 2017, Alpha Gamma pledge class. Evan, after several weeks of the pledging process, became my fraternity “uncle” and I joined his family! He immediately welcomed me and over the years cherished me as a younger brother or “nephew”. Hearing his testimony truly touched me and inspired me to be an intentional person with the life that I have. I could spend hours speaking of the beautiful ways that Evan touched the hearts of my friends and I. To this day, he was the glue that holds many of my present friendships together because he was there through the best and worst times. He had the biggest heart to empower people to love God and love people through his testimony.

Our last conversation was surprisingly 3 days before he passed on Wednesday 9/4/24, spending an hour on the phone after his day of work talking about freedom from past sin struggles, our beautiful existing and new relationships, confidence in the Lord, new endeavors, and making plans to spend time together in the coming weeks. Truly, a beautiful conversation. While I know I won’t be able to physically see him on Friday, September 27th when he was planning to spend time with me in Sarasota, I will spend that day seeking the Lord and enjoy what I was planning to do with Evan.

Evan Pughe was a man who could have the deepest conversation with you and immediately after have you in tears and uncontrollable laughter. Most of our calls began with a funny voice or Roberttooooo. I so much enjoyed watching cringe youtube videos, playing Nintendo video games for long hours (ie: Pokemon, Super Smash bros), and having intentional conversations about hard topics and situations. A few times, he wrote hilarious fictional stories, often using his voice acting skills to make others laugh. I enjoyed stopping by his room often to check on him while living in the Brick Mansion, our fraternity house.

He was one of the few people there on my 21st birthday (March 8th, 2020), driving 2.5 hours to Saint Pete at 3 Daughters Brewery from Longwood to buy one of my first legal drinks, bring me a Makers Mark t-shirt, and to show up for me.

I know in our conversations, our hearts were to travel the world together with our friend group. I know we recently talked about being there at each other’s and our friend group’s bachelor parties and wedding days. Man, his presence will be truly missed at these days in my life, Lord willing. This week, I lost a future groomsman, a close friend, and a confidant that made me a better person. I always left our conversations feeling renewed to carry the light we have been called to carry. Every time we ended a conversation, he always told me that he loved me.

Furthermore, Evan always took a stand for biblical truth. Evan was accepted to travel to the Holy Land in Israel like friends such as his Iron man Matt McKetty and myself had the chance to do. Passages Israel was the company that accepted us all. He never got to go because of the pandemic. He wanted to experienced where God dwelled among us. He knew the truth and the days we are living in and encouraged others. I knew he was always praying for me, always wanted me to contact him if I were struggling, and loved me as a dear friend.

Evan truly has lived life with intention, purpose, and legacy in mind in everything he did, for the sake of Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Anyone is welcome to reach out to me anytime, anyone who knew him; I would love to celebrate his life, and share in his memory any day. Please feel free to share memories of him with me anytime. 941-284-7324.

Evan always had a smile whenever and wherever we saw him.  Everytime  I went into Publix and he was working, he would always wave me over to his check out line.  He was always smiling and greeted me with a happy and pleasant conversation about what was going on with him and his family.  Since we lived next door to him, he would stop over and engage me in a pleasant conversation when he had come home from college.

I remember vividly the day he was born.  Debbie put out a biggest blue cardboard stork announcing his birth.  It was truly huge!

Debbie and family, my heart holds fond memories of Evan in preschool with my daughter Jenna. A funny, vivacious boy who blossomed into a handsome young man. We send our deepest condolences and prayers for your family. Cling tightly to each other, this life is far too precious and tomarrow is prepared already for us.

John 3:13 For God, so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Love, Cindy High and family ❤️

Dearest Pughe Family,

Please know that our hearts and prayers are with you during this devastating time. Though I don’t believe I had the chance to meet your sweet son, a follower of Jesus, I’ve heard he was an incredible young man. The blessing is knowing that he is now with our Lord and Savior, living his best life for eternity. The hardest part is for those who knew and loved him, left behind to mourn the loss of his everyday presence. His spirit will always be with you, and yes… you now have the BEST guardian angel watching over you.

Thinking of you and praying for you all.

Much love,

Nicole Wilbur-Brown

May God sustain you all all the days ahead! May His Holy Spirit strengthen your faith and walk with you all the time. Losing a loved one is very painful, but God understands, and His love is comforting, and His presence can provide peace. May God be with you!

Leonela (volunteer at Calvary Chapel)

I'm very sorry about your loss. I hope that God will fill your hearts immensely with His comfort and love.

Leonela (volunteer at Calvary Chapel)

Evan was best friends with my boyfriend, Josh, and was one of the first people I was introduced to when we started dating. He quickly became like an older brother to me, and was just such an incredible guy all around who had a huge heart for the Lord. He was so intentional with all of his relationships, and just made you feel so important and loved. I loved seeing him care and just be there for “his boys” whenever they needed him, and was also so caring to me when my dad passed in March.

Josh, Evan, and I hung out a lot; from our Texas Roadhouse dinners, to concerts, movies, games, moving days, weddings, and so many more… My heart hurts that we won’t be able to see him around anymore but fully know that he is having the time of life in heaven with Jesus and the angels. He will be missed dearly. The last memory I had with him was when us three went out to a Japanese restaurant for dinner a week before he passed, and all three of us being super sleepy at the dinner after having a long day yet still enjoying each other’s presence and catching up on life lol.