School children in Soquel today are reminded of Evan as they have a snack under the shade of trees dedicated to him and Fay Wyman.

Evan Sturgeon Marlin was born on October. 12, 1896, to Abraham and Abbie Sturgeon Marlin in the small Merced County community of Newman, where his mother's family, the Sturgeons, lived. Little is known of his father who had previously resided in Walla Walla, Washington. The Marlin family later moved to Capitola where Evan and his brother Kenneth attended Soquel Grammar School. Evan went on to complete his education at Heald's Business College in Santa Cruz.

On May 12, 1916, Evan Marlin and Grace Crowley applied for a wedding license in Santa Cruz and likely married shortly thereafter.

Evan Marlin may have been working in the Midwest when he registered for the draft on June 5, 1918, in Dayton, Ohio, listing the Chicago Commissary Company as his employer. He was described at the time as being of medium height and stature with dark brown hair and blue eyes.

Marlin returned to Santa Cruz where he was inducted into the army and sent to an unidentified training facility. After completing his initial training, he was assigned to the 151st Brigade and stationed at Camp Grant the home of the 86th Infantry Division in Rockford, Illinois.

During the influenza epidemic of 1918, over 1,400 soldiers at Camp Grant lost their lives from the disease. In September, while awaiting orders there for deployment to France, Evan Marlin contracted the flu. His condition continued to worsen and on October 7, 1918, his family received a telegram reporting his death.

Evan's remains were returned to Newman, California, where his mother, brother and eighty-year-old grandfather lived. His remains were later reinterred in Santa Cruz Memorial Park.

(CAG; 1910 US Census, CA, Santa Cruz; WWIDR; SCSf October 10, 1918 2:3; SCSn October 18, 1918 5:7; November 13,1923 2:1; WIKI, Camp Grant, Cemetery Survey)