Eugene C. Melcher

Eugene Capper Melcher Sr. was born on December 24th, 1928 in Soda Springs, Idaho. His father, who was working for Utah Power and Light, was transferred and moved his family to Salt Lake City where Gene grew up with his two brothers (Jack & Jim) and his sister (Karolina). In 1951 he married Gloria Pahl and that same year the Army drafted Gene into the Korean War. He was fortunate to serve most of his time in Austria. He had two sons while in Salt Lake City, Gene Jr. and Martin Alexander. In 1957 Gene took a job with Western Airlines and moved his family to Los Angeles where he worked at LAX. He took classes at night to become a certified Airframe & Powerplant mechanic and later an Inspector. In 1961 he was able to buy a house in Culver City and in 1965 his daughter Johanna Elizabeth was born. He joined the Masonic Lodge in 1984 and the Scottish Rite in 1986. In 1987 Gene and Gloria moved to Atlanta, Georgia, due to Western Airlines merging with Delta Airlines. He retired in 1991 after 33 years with the airlines and settled in Redlands, Ca. to be closer to his family. He was a lifelong member of the United Methodist Church. Gene and Gloria spent their retirement enjoying their grandchildren and attending their grandchildren's countless sporting events such as volleyball, soccer, golf, baseball, dance and band performances. They also volunteered for Meals on Wheels and Gene was a member of the Citizens Volunteer Patrol of Redlands where he completed over 5500 hours of volunteer service. Gene was still actively volunteering until last year at the age of 91. Gloria passed in 2016 and he moved to Plymouth Village in 2017. He is survived by two brothers Jack Melcher and Jim Melcher, three children Gene Jr., Marty, and Johanna Watt all of Redlands, his 8 grandchildren, Marcel Urban, Emily O'Donnell, Marty Melcher Jr., Natalie Johnson, Graham Melcher, Melissa Wheeler, Ryan Watt and Adam Watt, and 10 great-grandchildren. He died peacefully at his home, surrounded by his children, after a brief battle with leukemia at the age of 92.

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