Eugene Edward Comiskey

Eugene was born at home in South Lyon, Michigan. His father, Joseph, a factory foreman, and his mother Genevieve, a homemaker, raised seven children during the Depression and World War II. The day after he graduated from South Lyon High School, Eugene enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. He served with the HMR363, performing maintenance on Marine Corps helicopters. He witnessed some of the atomic bomb tests at the Bikini Atoll, and achieved the rank of sergeant by the time of his discharge.

After three years in the Marines, Eugene attended Eastern Michigan University on the GI Bill, with the goal of becoming a high school business teacher. There, he became reacquainted with Marlene, a high school classmate. A year later, they were married. Four children came along in the next five years: Beth, Paul, Pat and Mary.

Some of Eugene’s instructors at Eastern Michigan recognized his scholastic talents and encouraged him to pursue a graduate degree. After completing a PhD in Accounting at Michigan State University, Eugene became on Accounting professor at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana from 1965 to 1980. In the summer of 1980, he brought his family south to Atlanta, Georgia for a new job teaching Accounting at Georgia Institute of Technology. By the time he retired at age 75, he had become the Associate Dean of the School of Business.

During his career, Eugene won many awards for his excellence in teaching, including the Nicolas Salgo Outstanding Teacher Award ’68-’69 at Purdue University and (multiple times) The Graduate Students in Management Professor of the Year at Georgia Tech. In addition to publishing numerous articles in accounting and business journals, he published several books which were coauthored with Prof. Charles Mulford, including Financial Warnings (1996) and The Financial Numbers Game (2002).

Eugene stayed fit by running for decades. He completed in a number of races, including the challenging Bay to Breakers race in San Francisco while he was a visiting professor at The University of California, Berkley for the ’72-’73 school year. In his later years, he switched to a long, daily walk. Most days, he and Marlene would walk a four mile route around their Cambridge Park neighborhood in Brookhaven. Marlene was always an avid gardener, while Eugene enjoyed keeping the lawn neat and trimmed well into his eighties. He loved reading, but only nonfiction would do. His favorite subjects were military history, especially anything to do with helicopters or WWII. He read the Wall Street Journal every morning.

Eugene was preceded in death by: his father, Joseph Bernard Comiskey; his mother, Genevieve Comiskey; his brothers, Joseph Comiskey and David Comiskey and; his sister, Charlotte O’Leary.

Eugene is survived by: his wife, Marlene Comiskey; his children, Elizabeth Comiskey, Paul Comiskey, Patrick Comiskey and his wife, Mam and Mary Delaney; his brothers, Richard Comiskey and Michael Comiskey, and his sister, Anne Teoli; his grandchildren, Cory Comiskey and Adrienne Barringer; and his great-grandchildren, Aria, Eleanor, Carver Eugene and Jeren.

There will be a private inurnment ceremony at Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church in Brookhaven, Georgia at a date yet to be determined.