NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Drury High graduate William Evans, a Capitol Police officer who died in the line of duty in April, will be memorialized in his hometown on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. 

 

The city is planting a tree in his honor at Noel Field Athletic Complex along with a bench being donated by the Drury High School Class of 1998. The City Council accepted the bench, valued at $500, from his classmates on Tuesday night. 

 

Evans, 41, was one of two officers struck on April 2 when a man rammed his car into them at a barrier on the north side of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., then got out and lunged at officers with a knife. He was shot and killed. Evans was taken to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

 

Born in North Adams, he later grew up in Clarksburg and graduated from Western New England University in 2002. Evans was known as a standout baseball player for Drury and had also played in the local Babe Ruth League. He was a Capitol Police officer for 18 years. Among survivors are his wife and two small children. 

 

He lay in honor in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda and a Mass was held at St. Stanislaus Kostka Church in Adams that was attended by family, friends and numerous state officials and Capitol Police. He was laid to rest in Bellevue Cemetery next to his father, late Howard Evans.

 

"Many of us turned out when he came back home to North Adams and to the Northern Northern Berkshires after having been honored by the United States Capitol," said Mayor Thomas Bernard. "His classmates have been working on an effort to honor and commemorate and celebrate his life and his legacy."

 

The newly rejuvenated Tree Commission was tasked with obtaining and planting the memorial tree prior to Sunday's dedication. The tree is coming through the federal grant program the city is participating to planting trees throughout the North Adams. 

 

The memorial will be installed between Joe Wolfe Field and Child Care of the Berkshires at Haskins School.