Gene grew up in Anacortes, Washington, son of immigrants from Croatia. His father, Little Joe, like so many Croatian men who moved to Washington, was a fisherman. In his youth, Gene occasionally worked on his dad’s boat, and spent a summer working at a salmon cannery in Alaska, but he didn’t catch the fishing gene (sorry Gene, couldn’t resist the pun). He went to Washington State University majoring in business. After a stint in the Army, he became a banker.
He loved mechanical things, especially cars, and particularly American cars. Gene was also the biggest news junkie I ever knew. He subscribed to several weekly news magazine, and I think he wore out his TV remote buttons tuning between the local news stations and CNN.
I’m not much of a car guy – to me, a car is just basic transportation. But I do keep up on the news, though I must admit, when I knew Gene was coming over, I’d bone up on the latest news so we’d always had something to talk about. He loved to discuss the world’s problems and offer suggestions on how to fix them. But sometimes he was stumped, and I will always remember the quizzical look he’d get on his face, slightly grinning and cocking his head sideways when I’d ask him about some particular issue when he didn’t have a good answer. Then he would always say, “that’s a good question Joe!” and laugh.
Gene was also one of the happiest men I’ve ever known, and he was so enthusiastic about everything – be it a glass of wine, a good-looking car, or just coming to visit at our house. Through the years of having Tanya’s parents over, I don’t know how many of Gene’s crushing bear hugs I survived. He always had a smile and was truly happy to met anyone (though the bear hugs he saved for family). He adored our cat, Patch, and Patch likely to sit on his lap. Which is quite funny, because Patch typically only comes up to visitors who don’t like cats or are allergic to them (how Patch knows this, I don’t know, but he does).
As I went through my photo collection looking for a picture of Gene to use with this post, I sadly found I didn’t have very many pictures of him, and even fewer of just him without other people in the shot. Tanya has repeatedly told me to take more family photos, and I have been lazy and not done so, thinking there is always more time. In Gene’s case, I no longer have that time. So let this be a warning to you photographers out there – take those family photos while you can, you never know when the opportunity will no longer be there.
Goodbye Gene. I miss you.