The Washington Post Obituary

Published today, 10 April 2011.

EVAN ARMSTRONG NORTH 1982 - 2011

A graduate student at Georgetown University, died suddenly on April 4, 2011 while working out on a treadmill at the Yates Field House. There was no prior known health condition, and the cause of death has not yet been determined.

Evan North was in his fourth year at Georgetown, having in 2009 obtained a Master's degree in Global, International, and Comparative Studies, and in 2010 passed his doctoral qualifying examination with a "high pass." His special interest was modern economic history. He had written theses on the history of Spain's most prominent manufacturing company, and the role of Harry Dexter White in the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference, and had just begun working on a dissertation on the evolution of the Federal Reserve System. He was greatly enjoying teaching and research under the direction of his advisor David Painter and other faculty mentors, Joseph McCartin, Michael Kazin, and Katie Benton-Cohen.

Evan North was born at the Stanford Hospital near Palo Alto, California on November 23, 1982 and lived his early years in Woodside, California. After elementary school at the Nueva School in Hillsborough, California, he spent a year at Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts, and then finished high school at Sandy Spring Friends School in Sandy Spring, Maryland. Evan graduated with honors in history from Harvard University in 2005. He toured the red rock canyon country of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah writing for the Harvard "Let's Go" student guidebook series.

Following his graduation from Harvard, he returned to Escalante, Utah, to work through the summer and fall as an assistant wilderness guide. He then came back to the Washington, DC area, where he lived and worked on Capitol Hill. He played the leading role of Dr. Thomas Stockmann in a production of Henryk Ibsen's play, "An Enemy of the People." He sang bass with the Thomas Circle Singers and was active in a Quaker youth group. His interest in the history of science led him to construct a website, www.keplersdiscovery.com, portraying the thinking leading to Johannes Kepler's insight that earth and other planets revolve around the sun. Evan loved exploring the rural areas around Washington, especially hiking the trails. He was accomplished in skiing, swimming, kayaking, and single-scull rowing. He combined intensity of scholarship, a love of nature, and a passion for teaching and helping others.

History Department Chair Aviel Roshwald is quoted in the Georgetown newspaper "The Hoya" as follows: "Evan was such a valued member of the department, much loved as a friend by many of his fellow graduate students and held in deep affection and respect by the faculty. He was a truly humble person of great talent and with a passionate thirst for knowledge, which he also imparted to his students in classes where he taught as a TA."

Evan North is survived by his mother, Diane Tarantino North, now living in Flat Rock, North Carolina after residing many years in Brookeville, Maryland; by his father, D. Warner North, of Belmont; California; his grandmother, Margaret Peters North, of San Francisco, California; numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins.

A memorial service will be held at the Dahlgren Chapel in Georgetown University at 10 a.m., Saturday, April 16. A funeral service will be held at the Fernwood Cemetery in Mill Valley, California on April 30. The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, contributions will be welcomed for the Evan Armstrong North Memorial Fund, at the Georgetown University Advancement Office, PO Box 571253, Washington, DC 20057-1253.