Mr. Evans began as a staff assistant in Specter's Philadelphia office and at his death was an executive assistant there.

"Since my election in 1980" to the Senate, Specter said yesterday, "Kenny Evans has been my right arm. . . .

"I called him Deputy Senator, but he was more like a brother."

Patrick L. Meehan, a former Delaware County district attorney and U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, was senior counsel to Specter in the early 1990s. He said yesterday that Mr. Evans had "bridged the gap between the traditional white political power structure and the emerging African American political base in Philadelphia."

Born in Philadelphia, Mr. Evans graduated from Benjamin Franklin High School in 1946 and for three years served as an engineer, truck driver, and postal clerk in the Third Army in Europe.

From 1949 to 1981, Mr. Evans was a tractor-trailer driver with the U.S. Postal Service.

He is survived by his wife, Charlotte C.; sons Kenneth III, Lamont, Darnell Brockington, and Martin Henry; daughters Wanda, Marsha Carter, Vivian Brockington, Elizabeth Ann Brockington, Sharry Renee Elliott, and Kim Frye; 18 grandchildren; and 17 great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his former wife, Sarah.

A viewing will be held from 8 a.m. Saturday at Bible Way Baptist Church, 52d and Master Streets, West Philadelphia, where a funeral will follow at 10 a.m. Burial will be in Fernwood Cemetery, Fernwood.