Eugene Pierre Schepers III

To deflect criticism of his Jersey City accent, Gene often challenged a new acquaintance to guess his birthplace. This usually got a laugh as did his recitation of his full name, Eugene Pierre Schepers III - not the best moniker for a little kid looking to play stick ball on Fourth Street. Born on April 13, 1936, he died on April 21, 2019, and is survived by his wife, Jo Anne Engelbert, his daughter Lee Schepers-Matthews and his step daughter Karen Dinelli.

Good humor, cheerfulness and compassion were the default settings of this gentle giant - 6-foot-6 - and a heroic streak marked both his temperament and his vocation: at Pratt Institute he switched from engineering to architecture when he realized that his ultimate bliss lay in creating shelter for human beings. He worked for architectural firms throughout the New York metropolitan area, ending his career with a stint at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, located in the World Trade Center. Trapped in an elevator high in Tower One, he survived the 1993 attack and was named to a government commission that ordered changes which greatly reduced loss of life on 9/11.

After retiring to St. Augustine in 1999, Gene continued putting roofs over people's heads by volunteering at Habitat for Humanity, where he shepherded 75 dwellings to completion in our community. His intellectual passion was economic theory and the search for a just society. His many friends will sorely miss the "spirited exchanges of views" he lived for. Other friends will remember him as a creator of stunning model airplanes over a 75-year span that began when he was eight with balsa and rubber power and kept pace with the times. He belonged to numerous modeling clubs, most recently the St. Augustine Radio Control Flyers. Some of his happiest moments were certainly those spent pursuing the perfect flight with fellow modelers.

An utterly self-effacing person, Gene stipulated in his will that there be no public memorial upon his death. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation, 230 East Ohio Street, Suite 500, Chicago, IL 60611.