Evangelos C. (Evan) Vlachos, 81, of Fort Collins, died June 16, in Boulder. He was Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Civil/Environmental Engineering at Colorado State University.
Evan was born November 15, 1935, in Piraeus, Greece, to Constantine and Irene (Archandaki) Vlachos. He married Virginia Pakes on September 8, 1962, in Indianapolis. She survives, along with their children and grandchildren: Dean and Janice Vlachos (Eleni and Nikolas) of Boulder, and Irene Vlachos-Weber and Jeff Weber (Alexandra; Kristina and Jake Luby) of Bloomington, IN.
Evan grew up in Piraeus, Greece, and received an LL.B. from the School of Law, Athens, in 1959. He earned his Ph.D. in Sociology and a Certificate of Russian Studies at Indiana University in 1964. Evan returned to Greece for several years to teach on a Fulbright Grant. He joined the faculty at CSU in 1967, and spent more than 40 years engaging in teaching, administration, applied research, faculty governance, and consulting. Evan’s work was interdisciplinary and included integrated water resources planning and management, urban planning, technology assessment, demography, and social forecasting. He consulted on projects both in the United States and abroad, including public projects in Europe, South America, and the Middle East, as well as city planning in Midwestern and Western states, including the Front Range urban corridor in Colorado. During his career, Evan served as Director of the Environmental Resources Center at CSU, as Associate Director of the International School for Water Resources, and chaired both the Environmental Advisory Board, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Advisory Panel on Environmental and Earth Science & Technology for NATO (Eastern Europe and Russia).
Evan was a gregarious, generous man who had an excellent sense of humor and a fierce love for his family. He instilled a great love of reading in his children, and his library was both his sanctuary and his joy. Evan adored movies, especially those with Doris Day. Like the father in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” he extolled the contributions of the Greeks, and made sure his family embraced their heritage. He was married to the love of his life, Virginia, for 55 years. Throughout his time with us, Evan embodied his favorite quote from “Zorba the Greek”: “Life is to be lived, not merely endured.”
Evan’s family greatly appreciates the staff of Morningstar Senior Living and Suncrest Hospice, who have taken excellent care of both Evan and Virginia in the past few years. Memorial Contributions can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association Colorado Chapter.
A celebration of life is planned for the fall in Fort Collins.
Published in The Coloradoan from June 27 to June 28, 2017
