After graduation, Gene served aboard the USS Fechteler and in the ROTC unit at the University of Colorado at Boulder. While there, he met and married Rebecca Reiland of Santa Fe, New Mexico, with whom he recently celebrated his 45th wedding anniversary.
During his naval service, Gene was posted to a number of places including Northern California, Idaho, Connecticut, South Carolina, Virginia and finally, Hawaii. During this time, he and Becky became the proud parents of daughter, Kelly, and son, Mark. While in Hawaii, Gene served on several nuclear submarines including the Benjamin Franklin and Lafayette. His time in Hawaii also led to a lifelong love of surfing.
Gene retired from the Navy in 1970 at the rank of Lt. Commander. He and his family settled in El Toro, California, and he took a job with Southern California Edison as a nuclear engineer. While with Edison, he worked in the Steam Generation department as well as on all three units at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. He would eventually rise to become Vice President and Site Manager at San Onofre and held that title until his retirement in 1993.
During his life, Gene had a passion for surfing, skiing, reading and music and played competitive beach volleyball for many years. Always health conscious, he ran or worked out nearly every day until suffering a stroke in November, 2008. His charismatic personality and wonderful wit brought joy to everyone. He was generous with his time, responsive to the needs of others, and dearly loved his family, friends and neighbors.
And seriously, how AWESOME was my Dad?!! This picture is from 2004 - he was 66 years old!
Dad was an amazing, accomplished, intelligent guy with a wicked sense of humor. The world is a poorer place without him and we will never forget him.
Love you, Dad!
KJ