Eugene Stanley Shreyer, born July 10, 1924, in Windsor, California, died on June 13, 2018, in Silverton, one month short of his 94th birthday. He suffered from a massive stroke which was the ultimate cause of his death.
Eugene was the son of Albert and Jessie (Woodbury) Shreyer. His father was born in Sereth Bukovina, Romania and his mother in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Gene, as he preferred to be called, was a life long member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. He was home schooled by his mother for the first few years and then attended Seventh Day Adventist Christian schools for the remainder of his schooling.
Gene was in the Army Reserve Corp during WWII, but was sent back to school to finish his pre-med courses with no active duty. Gene went to medical school at the College of Medical Evangelists (now Loma Linda University Medical School) from which he graduated in 1948. From there he set up a general practice in Somerton, a small town in southern Arizona, where he served one term
as mayor.
During the Korean War, he was part of a special draft for doctors with military experience and was stationed with his family at the 10th Field Hospital in Wurzburg, Germany.
Gene was married to Phyllis Jean Kesler, his high school sweetheart, on July 4, 1946 in Berkeley, California. They had three children: Karen, Donald, and Cynthia. Phyllis died in 1977 at age 51 from cancer.
A year later, on March 19, 1978, Gene married Joy (Coon) Semmens, a widow belonging to the same church that he and Phyllis attended. Gene and Joy recently celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary.
Both he and Joy shared their interest in rockhounding and birdwatching.
Gene served several times as head Elder in his church in Pleasant Hill, California, was on the church board and was honored twice in the Pleasant Hill Adventist Academy School annual for his active support of that school, which all three of his children attended. Gene also loved to travel in the wide, open West.
Recently Gene was in charge of Disaster Preparedness at his local Seventh Day Adventist Church in Silverton. He and Joy were active in starting yearly camping trips for the church. His funeral service happened to be on the same week-end as one of these events.
His memorial was held in Silverton Seventh Day Adventist Church on June 16 and his burial was in the Miller cemetery in Silverton. Unger Funeral Chapel was in charge of the service and the Veterans provided taps and the color guard presenting the American flag to his
widow.
Gene leaves his wife Joy; his children, Karen Davis (Rob), Donald Shreyer, Cynthia Perrin (Jack); three grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; two nieces and two nephews; and many much-loved members of his extended family and a host of dear friends in the local Seventh Day Adventist Church and beyond.
