Congressman Lane Allen Evans, 63, of Rock Island, died Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2014, at Hope Creek Care Center, East Moline. He died of complications brought on by the effects of Parkinson’s disease, which he was diagnosed with in 1995.
Lane was born Aug. 4, 1951, in Rock Island to Lee H. and Joycelene E. (Saylor) Evans. He was the second of four brothers, Steve, Doyle and Dave. Lane attended Sacred Heart School in Rock Island and graduated from Alleman High School in 1969. He then joined the Marine Corps and completed boot camp in San Diego. Lane was stationed in Okinawa during the Vietnam War due to the Sullivan Act because his brother Steve was already in Vietnam.
Two years later, he was honorably discharged and began his studies at Black Hawk College. Lane then attended Augustana College and graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1974. He completed his education with a Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University Law Center in 1977. During these years, Lane volunteered for the presidential campaigns of George McGovern and populist Fred Harris. He was a field staff organizer for Ted Kennedy’s 1980 presidential campaign. He worked out of his home as an attorney until opening the Community Legal Service Practice with two other attorneys, Dennis Buchneger and Jean Becker, in 1981.