Eugene M. Solimine

LTC (Ret.) Eugene M. Solimine, USAF, age 90, died on January 19, 2015. Col. “Geno” Solimine, the fourth of six children of Italian immigrants, was born in New York City where he grew up during the Great Depression. His engineering and pre-law studies at NYU were interrupted by World War II, during which he served in both the United States Army (75th Infantry Division) and, after VE-Day, in the United States Navy. After the War, he returned home to complete his college education and then to obtain a law degree from Brooklyn Law School. During this time Geno met his beloved wife Jane and they were married for over 30 years and raised six children together. He returned to active duty in 1952, this time as a member of the Air Force’s Judge Advocate General Corps, and served in Seoul, South Korea. His many assignments during the following 25 years included Lindsey Air Station in Wiesbaden, West Germany and SE Asia during the Vietnam War where he became one of the USAF’s first military judges for SE Asia and also earned the Bronze Star for “his role in ground operations against opposing armed forces.” After his retirement from active duty in 1977, he returned to work for the USAF and the Department of Defense as a senior member of the AFMC Law Office, Contract Law Directorate at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. At the time he retired from his civilian post in 2003, at the age of 79, he was the oldest active employee of the Department of the Air Force. At his retirement ceremony at the National Museum of the USAF, the former commanding General of the USAF Judge Advocate Corps stated that “his career has been an example of total dedication to his country. He will be sorely missed and never replaced.” In addition to his long, esteemed career, Geno was a longtime member and supporter of St. Helen's parish where he cherished his close friendship with Father Dave Brinkmoeller and his decades long friendship with Sister Mary Alice Weber. Geno was a fitness enthusiast since the 1970's and was proud of his over 25 year participation in the Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot and enjoyed daily sessions at the Wright Field Fitness Center where he had numerous friends. Many of his fitness friends also were colleagues of his from the AFMC Law Office who he viewed as an extended family and where he volunteered after his retirement. Geno particularly enjoyed ballroom dancing both as a young man and throughout his senior years and he frequently could be seen dancing at the Christopher Club and Dayton Liederkranz Turner Club. Geno was comforted in the last years of his life by frequent visits from friends and colleagues, especially Tony, John, Paul, Rick, Terese, Heidi and Beth. Most of all, Geno was a devoted husband and father and his greatest joy in life was spending time with his wife, children and grandchildren Geno was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Jane (Bianco), and is survived by his six children, Louis (Jane), Michael (Patricia), Joanne (John), Annette Kratz (Herbert), Gina Tollefson (John), and John (Jennifer), twelve grandchildren Peter (Lauren), Caroline, Claire, Jane, Jimmy, Jane, Natalie, Eileen, John, Joseph, Catherine, and Louis) and one great-grandchild (Charlotte). In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate contributions to St. Helen’s parish in Dayton, Ohio or Hospice of Dayton. Visitation on Friday, January 23 from 5-7 p.m. at TOBIAS FUNERAL HOME – BEAVERCREEK CHAPEL, 3970 Dayton-Xenia Rd. at Grange Hall Rd. and Mass of Christian Burial at St. Helen Catholic Church, 5080 Burkhardt Rd., on Saturday, January 24 at 10:00 a.m. Condolences may be expressed to the family at www.tobiasfuneralhome.com.