Born in Melvindale, MI to his parents, Rev. Lorenz F. Gugel and Elnore Hahn Gugel, Gene learned the value of hard work at an early age, helping provide for his family while still finding time to excel on the court and gridiron. He graduated from Concordia High School in Fort Wayne, IN, where he met his sweetheart and eventual lifelong wife and partner, Marjorie Tennison.
Discarding his early ambition of owning and operating a burger cart, and with help from the GI bill, Gene attended Purdue University, earning a Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering. He would then complete studies at the Chrysler Institute of Detroit and eventually earn his professional engineering license.
Gene loved his work, dedicating 45 years to the commercial and industrial plastics industry. His name on hundreds of industrial patents, he excelled in the design and development of sealants, fasteners, casing and other complicated do-dads used by companies both large and small, domestic and international, and beyond the author’s limited understanding of how such things work.
A man devoted to both family and faith, he and his wife of 67 years raised two children, Beth and Matt, first in Indiana and later in Texas. And while family and friends will mourn his passing, they know that he is now in a place where tennis, chess, hunting, fishing, and volunteering his time are always on the agenda.
Eugene is survived by his wife, Marjorie L Gugel; his daughter, Beth Ann Gugel; his son Matthew N Gugel; his sister, Laurel Stockamp; his sister, Cheryl Kohrman; his sister, Denise Ramsey; and his granddaughters, Colleen, Cheyenne, and Kaitlyn.
Eugene was preceded in death by his father, Rev. Lorenz F Gugel; his mother, Elnore T Hahn Gugel Hawthorne Buuck; his step-father, Herbert F Buuck; his brother, Dr. Lorenz Gugel; his sister, Janet Hawthorne Gocken; and his brother, Ken Buuck.
A celebration of life for Eugene will be held on Wednesday, October 30, 2024, from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM at Resurrection Lutheran Church, 1612 Meadow Edge Ln, Spring, Texas.
