When Gene was a young boy, the first thing he remembers loving more than anything, was his horse Broom. Broom was a Desert Rang that a sheep herder caught out at the desert and brought back to town for him.
Gene lived to play football. He was the quarterback at Wasatch high starting in 1941 through his senior year, where they went undefeated, and then he continued to play football for Utah State, didn't get to play many, if any games, because all the boys were drafted into the war. He loved throwing that ball.
Gene was drafted into the United States Navy on November 23rd, 1943 to fight in WW11. He was stationed on the USS Oakhill, and was all over the Pacific Ocean. He was aboard ship for two years, and got home April 8th, 1946. He loves his country and was proud to go and fight for our freedom. To this day, if you ask him about it, it is one of his proudest accomplishments, and loves telling stories about his time out there on that ship.
When Gene first got home from the war, he started dating Darlene Turnbow. She was the love his life, and he couldn't imagine loving anyone more than he loved her. They were married November 28th, 1948. He loved her from the moment he first laid eyes on her.
The love a father feels for his children is indescribable. There is nothing else like it. Genes first child Mike, was born in 1949 when Gene was 24 years old. Gene and Darlene had a total of 10 children.
Gene loves politics. He was the Mayor of Midway for 12 years, from 1978 until 1990. His love for politics has also trickled down to his children, and one of his sons Bill, was also the mayor of Midway for 8 years.
He has a mutual love for his grandchildren as his grandchildren do for him. He loves spending time with the kids, and loves to show them the ropes and tease them. He now has a total of 27 grandchildren, and 34 great-grand children, all of whom he loves so much.
The one thing he has grown to love the most as he has gotten older, is to just sit on the front porch with Darlene, and play his guitar. You could always count on going to grandpas house and finding him out on the porch singing love songs to Darlene, and singing Jimmy Crack Corn to anyone who wants to listen.
Gene has a passion for wood working, and loves spending time building things. He has made a total of 36 baby cradles, and a countless number of kitchen tables for a lot of his grand kids as wedding gifts.
On March 23, 2011, his heart was broken. Darlene passed away after a battle with cancer. They were married for 62 1/2 years. After spending so many nights sitting on the front porch singing to her, he decided he would go the cemetery and sing to her there instead. There is hardly a day he has missed since that day, a little over a year ago.
When you gave us the assignment at the beginning of the semester, I had a picture of Gene up at the Cemetery burned into my brain and knew I wanted to somehow tie it into my final project. I decided to go with "the love of a man", because he is a huge example to me and my family. He has a bigger heart than any man I know, and took me in like I was one of his own...He holds his family together with the love he has for each and everyone of them, and the love he has for his wife, is a love most of us only dream of.
Thank you so much for pushing us to tell a story, and find something that means a lot to us, because without that challenge, I would not have learned as much as I have, or got the pictures I have gotten during this process. I have enjoyed this class more than any other class, and I thank you for teaching it.
