Keith Hale Evans passed away on February 14th, 2026 after a decades-long struggle with the debilitating effects of inclusion body myositis—a rare muscular degenerative disease. At the time of his death he was in his home surrounded by the love of family.

Keith was born on October 9th,1949 in a small one-room hospital in Roosevelt, Utah. The oldest child of Chad and Betty Evans, they took him home to the farming community of Arcadia to a four-room house with no running water that was heated by a wood-burning stove. Though he later would call much more ornate dwellings his home, he always longed for the feeling and lessons of that small house on the farm. Simple and unpretentious, that house became a quiet symbol of what he would be to everyone in his life: a vessel of love and security, steady, unassuming, whose requirements of daily striving carried the deepest lessons of a good life.

An Unparalleled Work Ethic

Keith will be remembered for his unparalleled work ethic which was first nurtured on that family farm in Arcadia. At just four years old he worked alongside his dad; all day, every day. He started each day milking many dozen cows, herding cattle, feeding the baby calves and chickens and gathering the eggs – tasks that quietly taught him responsibility, determination, and persistence. It was oft said that he could ride a horse before he could walk and throughout his life he felt most at home, most at peace, and most himself when he was in the saddle with endless land between him and the horizon. Life changed abruptly at twelve years old when his family left Arcadia and moved to Oregon. But, there is no doubt that the lessons of the farm prepared Keith for the unrelenting demands of his future career. His ability to work without complaint, to do whatever needed to be done, and to show up fully for anyone in need was an early and defining trait.

A Keen Intellect

Keith was known for his keen intellect, though it did not emerge all at once. After graduating from high school and completing his first year of college with mediocre grades, he was called to serve a church mission in Porto Alegre, Brazil. While he had long mastered the demands of physical labor, he had not yet learned how to discipline his mind. It was on his mission, amid the struggle to learn a new language, the desire to gain a personal witness of the gospel he proclaimed, and a willingness to give more than was required, that his intellect was first harnessed. He returned home from Brazil with a deeply rooted love for the people he served and a new confidence in his ability to learn, focus, and excel.

Medical school had once seemed an unlikely dream for a farm boy, but Keith combined his lifelong work ethic with a newly disciplined intellect and finished his college degree just eighteen months after returning from his mission. He was accepted to the University of Oregon Medical School in the fall of 1972.Though his formal schooling ended in 1979, he remained a lifelong student, constantly pursuing and professing knowledge. Though his body declined physically in the years before his death, his mind and intellect remained sharp until the day he died.

A Genuine Care for Others

At the heart of his legacy is the way he genuinely cared for others—in his profession, in his church, and within his family. For nearly thirty years as an obstetrician and gynecologist, the depth of care he offered his patients was marked by countless late nights, long days, missed events, and unending phone calls, all willingly borne out of love for those he felt privileged to serve. He once said, “I never get tired of that special feeling that exists in the delivery room—the miracle of life never gets old.”

Those years of tireless service came at a cost. The chronic sleep deprivation inherent in his work was later identified by medical experts as a contributing factor in the onset of his degenerative muscle disease. As his strength gradually declined, he eventually lost the physical ability to continue delivering babies and performing surgery. Refusing to step away from medical service, he pursued additional training after retirement and continued caring for patients as a mental health physician. His compassion and genuine concern for people made him especially effective during the ten years he worked at Northeastern Counseling Center. Even after a second retirement, he continued serving at the Physician’s Volunteer Clinic in St. George, offering training and guidance to the next generation of doctors until just one month before his death.

His ability to care for others was never more evident than in his relationship with his sweetheart. Keith met Sharon Wilford during his first year of medical school. A farm boy who loved the country and a country girl who longed for city life sometimes were hard-pressed to find common ground; but they loved each other deeply. She called him her prince, a role he loved to fulfill. He loved giving her flowers, often picking them daily from his rose garden. As his muscle disease gradually progressed, the care they had long shared quietly shifted as Sharon became his caregiver, attending to his needs with the same devotion he had always shown to her.

It can’t be over-stated how remarkable it was that amidst a truly grueling career where his time was never his own, he was still able to prioritize his family relationships. After seeing patients at his clinic all day, delivering babies at the hospital all night, and managing to take care of aging parents, his farm, his extensive garden, and taxing church callings, he would still find time to wrestle with his kids before bedtime, make avocado milkshakes and popcorn for movie nights, and get away for weekend fishing trips in the high Uintahs. Although he expected his kids to work hard, often alongside him, he also prioritized fun together. When he was promoted from “dad” to “papa” there was no request he wouldn’t grant to his grandkids; fishing trips, horseback rides, homemade apple sauce, firework shows, and endless fun with their papa.

An Unwavering Faith

Keith’s unwavering faith in his Savior, Jesus Christ, was not steeped in expectation that God would reward him with a life of ease. Rather, his faith gave him the expectation that he could endure whatever burdens or limitations came about as a consequence of his mortality. The last decade of his life was marked by incredible pain and weakness. He never complained. He never felt like life was unfair. He never doubted that his burden could ultimately be for his good. He hoped for a miracle and, in so doing, found that hope was, in fact, the miracle: hope for the strength to get through each new day, hope to learn from his suffering, hope that all pain is temporary, and hope that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, death is not the end and families are forever.

Though the small farmhouse in Arcadia is now just a memory, he embodied what it always stood for; love, security, steady work and quiet sacrifice. And now, having taught by example what it means to love deeply and endure faithfully, Keith, in the company of our angels, is back Home.

Keith is survived by his wife, Sharon, his children, Cameron (Mendi) Evans, Cari Medve, Cami Bell, Cortney (Brett) Stout, his grandchildren Kennedi Evans, Kaitlin Evans, Jarrett Evans, Jayce Evans, Madeline Medve, Matthew Medve, Chris Medve, Collin Medve, Cooper Medve, Lydia (Heber) Jenkins, Lexi Bell, Logan Bell, Lincoln Bell, McKensie Stout, Spencer Stout, and Sawyer Stout, and his siblings, Sherry Peterson and Chad Troy Evans.

He is preceded in death by his brother, Tony Evans, his grand-daughter, Lucie LeeAnne Bell, his parents Chad and Betty Evans, and his sons-in-law Robert Alan Medve and Jesse David Bell.

Funeral services will be held on Friday, February 20th at 11am at the Washington Utah East Stake Center: 1835 S Washington Fields Rd, Washington, Utah 84780. A visitation will be held prior from 9am- 10:30am.

The church has provided the following livestream link for the funeral service: