Service Friday
Services have been scheduled for Eugene Gunner Widen, a Sitka resident since 1996.
Graveside memorial services will be held 3 p.m. Friday, Aug. 15, at Sitka National Cemetery. A celebration of his life will follow at 3:30 p.m. at the Swan Lake Senior Center on Lake Street.
Gene died Aug. 11 at SEARHC-Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital. He was 87.
He was born Feb. 7, 1927, in Clatskanie, Ore., the son of Eugene and Sonja Widen.
When World War II broke out, he was 16. When he went with other boys from his high school to join the military, he was told he was too young. The U.S. Merchant Marine signed him up, however, and he delivered fuel to the U.S. Navy on an oil tanker for two years until joining the U.S. Coast Guard. He later told family he was among the first to see the damage after the U.S. dropped atom bombs on Japan.
Gene was honorably discharged from the Coast Guard in Japan in 1946, and rejoined the U.S. Merchant Marine. He traveled all over the world before retiring.
He married Amy Ward in 1969, and they moved to Sitka, Amy’s home town, in 1996.
Gene enjoyed making bread and giving it away, and he also made dehydrated banana chips for miscellaneous children.
He liked to walk, and did so every day until he was admitted to the hospital. He exercised three and more days a week, and spoke fondly of his exercise buddies.
He loved to watch baseball and football games; and he preferred country music.
He was a kind and gentle man and will be greatly missed, his family said.
Gene was preceded in death by his parents; his sister, Viola Wagner; and Amy, his wife of 44 years. Gene was a Christian, and has joined them in heaven, his family said.
He is survived by his stepchildren with Amy: Alec Jackson of Seattle, Linda Malline of Salem, Ore., and Esther Lawson, Chester Jackson, Ivor Malline, Eddie Malline and Darlene Brevick, all of Sitka.
Many grandchildren, great-grandchildren; and some great-great-grandchildren also survive.
