Gene, a Pearl Harbor survivor and retired US Navy Veteran passed away at his home.
The son of Ruben (Rick) Alexander and Betty (Coker) Adams, he joined the US Navy on December 26, 1940 and was a survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Gene, as his friends and family know him, served this country for twenty years in the Navy and retired in 1961 at the rank of Chief Petty Officer. The list of engagements he participated in is long and his achievements were many but he was most proud of being a member of the USS Phoenix that left a disabled and traumatized Pearl Harbor to engage the enemy.
In his later years, he was a proud contributor to the Veterans' History Project through the Library of Congress. His experiences will forever be on record there through an audio interview that can be heard on the Library of Congress website. At the conclusion of WWII, Gene returned to Paris where he met and married Mary Helen Dees. They were married for fifty-six years and had two children.
Upon his retirement from the Navy, Gene moved his family to Lubbock, Texas. He went to work for the US Postal Service and served as a mail carrier for over twenty years. He came from a family of athletes; his father was a professional baseball player who is recognized at the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and his two brothers were professional golfers.
Preceded in death by his parents, his two brothers, Jimmy and Benny Adams, his sister Margaret Adams Truman, and his wife Mary Helen; he is survived by his daughter Rebecca Anne Johnson, her three children Dillon and Lindsey Johnson and Amy Amstead; his son Richard E. Adams, Jr., his wife Jodi and their children John Adams and Kona Vinson. Gene and Mary Helen had five great grandchildren, Blaine, Christian, Daniel, Morgan, and Jacob. Gene had two nieces, Rickie Norton of Paris and Kay Lang of Tyler; and his very dear friend, Kelli Beyer. His faithful four-legged companion, Lucy, also survives him.
Gene's last wishes were that he be buried at sea at the Utah Memorial in Hawaii where a memorial service will be held in his honor by the US Navy.
The son of Ruben (Rick) Alexander and Betty (Coker) Adams, he joined the US Navy on December 26, 1940 and was a survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Gene, as his friends and family know him, served this country for twenty years in the Navy and retired in 1961 at the rank of Chief Petty Officer. The list of engagements he participated in is long and his achievements were many but he was most proud of being a member of the USS Phoenix that left a disabled and traumatized Pearl Harbor to engage the enemy.
In his later years, he was a proud contributor to the Veterans' History Project through the Library of Congress. His experiences will forever be on record there through an audio interview that can be heard on the Library of Congress website. At the conclusion of WWII, Gene returned to Paris where he met and married Mary Helen Dees. They were married for fifty-six years and had two children.
Upon his retirement from the Navy, Gene moved his family to Lubbock, Texas. He went to work for the US Postal Service and served as a mail carrier for over twenty years. He came from a family of athletes; his father was a professional baseball player who is recognized at the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and his two brothers were professional golfers.
Preceded in death by his parents, his two brothers, Jimmy and Benny Adams, his sister Margaret Adams Truman, and his wife Mary Helen; he is survived by his daughter Rebecca Anne Johnson, her three children Dillon and Lindsey Johnson and Amy Amstead; his son Richard E. Adams, Jr., his wife Jodi and their children John Adams and Kona Vinson. Gene and Mary Helen had five great grandchildren, Blaine, Christian, Daniel, Morgan, and Jacob. Gene had two nieces, Rickie Norton of Paris and Kay Lang of Tyler; and his very dear friend, Kelli Beyer. His faithful four-legged companion, Lucy, also survives him.
Gene's last wishes were that he be buried at sea at the Utah Memorial in Hawaii where a memorial service will be held in his honor by the US Navy.
Gene, a Pearl Harbor survivor and retired US Navy Veteran passed away at his home.
The son of Ruben (Rick) Alexander and Betty (Coker) Adams, he joined the US Navy on December 26, 1940 and was a survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Gene, as his friends and family know him, served this country for twenty years in the Navy and retired in 1961 at the rank of Chief Petty Officer. The list of engagements he participated in is long and his achievements were many but he was most proud of being a member of the USS Phoenix that left a disabled and traumatized Pearl Harbor to engage the enemy.
In his later years, he was a proud contributor to the Veterans' History Project through the Library of Congress. His experiences will forever be on record there through an audio interview that can be heard on the Library of Congress website. At the conclusion of WWII, Gene returned to Paris where he met and married Mary Helen Dees. They were married for fifty-six years and had two children.
Upon his retirement from the Navy, Gene moved his family to Lubbock, Texas. He went to work for the US Postal Service and served as a mail carrier for over twenty years. He came from a family of athletes; his father was a professional baseball player who is recognized at the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and his two brothers were professional golfers.
Preceded in death by his parents, his two brothers, Jimmy and Benny Adams, his sister Margaret Adams Truman, and his wife Mary Helen; he is survived by his daughter Rebecca Anne Johnson, her three children Dillon and Lindsey Johnson and Amy Amstead; his son Richard E. Adams, Jr., his wife Jodi and their children John Adams and Kona Vinson. Gene and Mary Helen had five great grandchildren, Blaine, Christian, Daniel, Morgan, and Jacob. Gene had two nieces, Rickie Norton of Paris and Kay Lang of Tyler; and his very dear friend, Kelli Beyer. His faithful four-legged companion, Lucy, also survives him.
Gene's last wishes were that he be buried at sea at the Utah Memorial in Hawaii where a memorial service will be held in his honor by the US Navy.
The son of Ruben (Rick) Alexander and Betty (Coker) Adams, he joined the US Navy on December 26, 1940 and was a survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Gene, as his friends and family know him, served this country for twenty years in the Navy and retired in 1961 at the rank of Chief Petty Officer. The list of engagements he participated in is long and his achievements were many but he was most proud of being a member of the USS Phoenix that left a disabled and traumatized Pearl Harbor to engage the enemy.
In his later years, he was a proud contributor to the Veterans' History Project through the Library of Congress. His experiences will forever be on record there through an audio interview that can be heard on the Library of Congress website. At the conclusion of WWII, Gene returned to Paris where he met and married Mary Helen Dees. They were married for fifty-six years and had two children.
Upon his retirement from the Navy, Gene moved his family to Lubbock, Texas. He went to work for the US Postal Service and served as a mail carrier for over twenty years. He came from a family of athletes; his father was a professional baseball player who is recognized at the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and his two brothers were professional golfers.
Preceded in death by his parents, his two brothers, Jimmy and Benny Adams, his sister Margaret Adams Truman, and his wife Mary Helen; he is survived by his daughter Rebecca Anne Johnson, her three children Dillon and Lindsey Johnson and Amy Amstead; his son Richard E. Adams, Jr., his wife Jodi and their children John Adams and Kona Vinson. Gene and Mary Helen had five great grandchildren, Blaine, Christian, Daniel, Morgan, and Jacob. Gene had two nieces, Rickie Norton of Paris and Kay Lang of Tyler; and his very dear friend, Kelli Beyer. His faithful four-legged companion, Lucy, also survives him.
Gene's last wishes were that he be buried at sea at the Utah Memorial in Hawaii where a memorial service will be held in his honor by the US Navy.
