Gene A. Wiley
December 11, 1931 ~ October 10, 2022
Graveside services for Mr. Gene A. Wiley, 90, of Linden, will be 10:00 a.m. Saturday, October 15, 2022 at Center Grove Cemetery, under the direction of Reeder-Davis Funeral Home in Linden.
Gene A. Wiley was born Dec 11, 1931, the youngest of seven children, of Charlie Wiley and Lora Ann Hamilton. Growing up in the depression he learned to work hard and became a young man of great promise. (Not bad looking, either!)
Gene was intellectually gifted, especially in theoretical matters and critical thinking. He also had a fine ear for music, financing much of his education by playing trombone in the bands at Kingsville and Commerce, both campuses destined to later become part of the TAMU university system.
In the early 1950s, he served two years in the United States Army, qualifying thereby for veteran’s benefits that enabled him to earn a graduate degree in theoretical mathematics at the University of Texas, Austin.
His education in hand, Gene launched enthusiastically into a long and rewarding career in national defense – first in Fort Worth and later in Nebraska. He lived for many decades in Bellevue, NE, home to Offutt Air Force Base, a facility which had become the headquarters of the United States Air Force’s Strategic Air Command in 1948. Professionally, Gene managed design contracts for the guidance systems of many of the nation’s most innovative aircraft, and he continued following the field of flight innovation throughout his life. He received the Chairman’s Award, PRC Government Information System’s most prestigious honor. His other great love was United States military history.
After retiring at age 75, Gene returned to his childhood home, Linden, Texas. He soon began making substantial improvements to the land and small lake of his grandfather and father, building his own residence in 2015 on the hill where as a young boy he had helped the family raise corn and vegetables. He loved those 70 acres of land and he loved his new, larger-than-life kitchen, in which he entertained those he loved with many fine meals prepared with his own hands.
Gene was an eminently worthy son, brother, uncle, and friend. He will be greatly missed by all who found a place in his life. He is survived by one sister-in-law, June Wiley; and seven nieces and nephews: Jack Wiley of Norman, OK, Sue Lazara of Linden, TX, Charlotte Bank of Highland Park, IL, Alicia Lekas of Nashua, NH, Cindy Hershman of Fort Atkinson, WI, Leonard Wiley of Marshall, TX, and Sam Wiley of Monroeville, OH.
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So sorry to hear of Mr. Gene's passing, but so glad to read a life fulfilled. He was a great guy. enjoyed my visits with HIM and my UNCLE George Newell, in omaha. good meals, playing card games and sequence board game, was a must ! happy to have known him.