When it was time for him to go, they wouldn't stop talking about him.

They called him everything from faithful servant to champion of the underdog and guardian angel of the downtrodden.

The Rev. Joseph Lowery, dean of Atlanta's Civil Rights Movement, said blacks are called to struggle and that Evans has never been one to back down.

"Nobody I know has been more diligent and stuck their neck out more on behalf of justice for our people than John Evans," Lowery said.

DeKalb Schools Superintendent Crawford Lewis declared Evans a warrior.

"John Evans is our moral conscience," Lewis said. "We need soldiers like you."

The speakers were paying tribute to Evans, the outgoing DeKalb NAACP president, who was honored Jan. 1 with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the DeKalb NAACP Jubilee Day celebration.

Evans, 71, was chapter president for four consecutive two-year terms. He did not seek re-election but said he is not retiring from public service. He plans to revive the old Save South DeKalb organization and is launching a DeKalb Justice Center to provide legal assistance to those who cannot afford it.

A former DeKalb commissioner, Evans ran unsuccessfully in October for the DeKalb Commission's Super District 7 seat that was left vacant by Lou Walker's sudden death.

At the NAACP, he was replaced by the Rev. Kenneth Samuel, pastor of Victory Baptist Church in Stone Mountain. During Saturday's ceremony, he passed a makeshift torch, a small white candle in a cup, and the keys to the office to Samuel.

The NAACP observes Jubilee Day annually in celebration of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation and the freeing of the slaves in the United States. Four hundred people packed theVictory sanctuary for the event.

In the civil rights struggle, arrests are worn like a badge of courage. Evans was arrested four times while demonstrating. Over 50 years of activism, he has tackled everything from lunch counter sit-ins at Tennesse State University to toxic waste and opposing increased co-payments for seniors at Grady Hospital.

Lowery told the crowd that Evans' life would have been easier if they had given him the love and support through the years that they were showing him during the ceremony.

"I remember many times when he had to stand by himself," Lowery said.

To show that he has no intention of just sitting around and playing with his five grandchildren, Evans was among 25 DeKalb NAACP officers sworn in on the chapter's executive committee.

He said he is also committed to assisting Samuel with "whatever he needs me to do."

"We're not going to stop," Evans said. "The day we stop will be the day we are in a box."