Brett Funeral Home
Gene caught the after-rain breezes in the early hours of September 17, and rode gently into that good night. He was preceded in death by his wife of 62 years, Dorothy. He was 97 years old.
Gene was born in Danville, VA to Lucy Land and Eugene Sr, and enjoyed being a boy of the land, as his father was a truck farmer. Gene maintained an interest in fruit crops, amaryllis lilies, and the creatures that came to his back door.
Physics and the sciences called to him during his college years, where at the Collage of William and Mary and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology he earned double bachelor of science degrees in 1948.
Just out of college, his first job was with Sylvania Electric Products in Huntington, WVA, where he was a product engineer. Johnson Memorial Methodist Church became his home church in that town, and it was there he met and courted Dorothy Adkins; they were wed in 1950. Gene worked in the coal mining industry in WVA, and then at Honeywell, St. Petersburg, where he was a Senior Production Engineer for the Polaris gyro systems, for the Gemini Space Program's re-entry guidance system, and helped the Swedish Air Force System 37 with its memory programming.
Dorothy and Gene were members of St. Luke's United Methodist Church. A decades-long, Sunday night Bible Study Group with good friends represented a deeper integration of Dorothy and Gene's faith into their lives.
He will be missed for his distinct handwriting, his enunciation, and his exacting recall of details. Gene is survived by his children Helen, Richard (Susan), Thomas, and Marsha Anderson (Jay Anderson); five grandchildren and three great grandchildren.
The memorial service will be held on Wednesday, September 28th, 11:00am at St. Luke's United Methodist Church, 4444 5th Ave. N, St. Petersburg, FL 33713. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to St. Luke's Food Pantry.
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