Eugene Joseph "Gene" Mutter

1940 - 2011

Eugene (Gene) Joseph Mutter, age 71, a Harrison Township resident, left this earth Monday, May 2, 2011. He was surrounded by his loving family in Seattle, Washington, as he lost his battle with cancer. He was born March 5, 1940, at home in St Clair Haven, Mich. (aka Harrison Township). Gene married Sandra Ferguson in 1983; he was a loving father to Heather (Jeremy) Sanborn; daughters Dawn (Mike) McMillan-Kosak and Deborah Hey from a previous marriage; and son, Shane LaBudde. He was a proud grandfather to Shane McMillan, Michael and Cody Kosak, Alden and Keaton, Hey and Olivia LaBudde. He is predeceased by his parents, Lee Roy Mutter and Mary Winifred Allard; a brother, Leon. Gene was born in his family home in Harrison Township, he grew up in Detroit and spent his last 35 years on the same street he was born. He spent much of his childhood fishing on Lake St Clair and trapping and hunting with his dad in Mount Clemens. He went to Denby and had a lifelong passion for anything with a motor. Motorcycles were a big part of his life, starting with his first Whizzer motorbike at age eight. He owned Precision Cycle on Gratiot and 15 Mile, during the 1970's. His life was filled with racing motorcycles and, an avid competitor. He rode trials on a Montesa, raced his Triumph 750(850) sidecar on the ice, occasionally did some motocross, and organized numerous road rallies around the Midwest. His mid-life was filled with boating, and belonged to Huron Pointe Yacht Club; he served as Commodore of HPYC in 1992. He was a member of ABYA, Past Commodore Club and Blue Gavel. He came back to his passion, motorcycles once he retired, restoring vintage Triumph and other British motorbikes. Visitation Tuesday, May 10, 2011 from 2–9 p.m. at Will & Schwarzkoff Funeral Home, 233 Northbound Gratiot, Mount Clemens and funeral service Wednesday, May 11, 2011 at 11 a.m. at the funeral home.