Eugene P. Voorhees

Eugene (Gene) P. Voorhees died in Mesa, Arizona October 15, 2007. He was born in Sioux City, Iowa in 1922. When he was eight, he and his family moved to Los Angeles where his father and mother practiced law for many years. Gene served in the US Army Air Force during World War II. When the war was over, he attended The New School for Social Research in New York City, where he earned a bachelor's degree in literature. From there he moved to Berkeley, California, where he earned a second bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of California at Berkeley, and a Law Degree from Boalt Hall School of Law at UC Berkeley. He met his wife, Eugenia (Jean), at Cal. They celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary this last September. At the time, he was in the hospital rehabilitating from a fall, and he invited her to have lunch with him, where he presented her with 58 yellow roses, carrying on a tradition that had begun with his giving her a single yellow rose on their first anniversary in 1950. When he graduated from law school, they moved to Los Angeles where he taught in the UCLA Business School and joined his parents' law firm. He opened a new law office in Redondo Beach and after several years, the Los Angeles and Redondo offices merged and moved to Torrance, California as Voorhees, Knable & Voorhees. The family lived in Torrance for almost 30 years. During this time Gene was President of the Riviera Homeowners Association and President of Riviera Hospital which, through his efforts, later merged with Torrance Memorial Hospital. He also led the project to build the Del Amo Medical Center of Torrance. He spent most of his later years forming limited partnerships for real estate projects and developed more than 20 real estate syndicates involving over 60 parcels of land in Southern California; Phoenix, Arizona; Las Vegas and Albuquerque, New Mexico; Las Vegas, Nevada; and Houston, Texas. He sang for many years with Los Cancioneros Community Chorus of the South Bay, California and the Jubilee Choir from Dominguez Hills College. He and his wife retired to Arizona in December 1989. He continued his interest in singing and joined the Phoenix Master Works Chorale and the Arizona State University Choral Union. He sang for 15 years with the Phoenix Symphony, the Scottsdale Symphony, and the ASU Symphony, and performed with the chorus at Carnegie Hall in New York City three times. He and his wife joined the Dobson Ranch Retirees Group where he served as Dinner Out Chairman and wrote biographies of the members for the retirees' page of the community newspaper, The Dobson Ranch Roundup. He loved the desert and camped with his family throughout the southwest, including Death Valley, Mesa Verde, the Four Corners, Joshua Tree, and especially Borrego Springs, his favorite area. With family and with friends, he hiked the Sierra Trail, Telescope Peak above Death Valley, and the San Jacinto Mountain above the family cabin in Idyllwild, California. He is survived by his wife, two daughters; Alise Puckett of Chandler, Arizona and Ann Baker of Redondo Beach, California, and four grandchildren; Jason Puckett of Mesa, Arizona, James Puckett of Chandler, Arizona, Sarah Billingsley of New York City, and Hannah Billingsley of New York City. Gene was a great husband, father, and beloved Babop to his grandchildren. He will be missed by all. According to his wishes, there will be no funeral or memorial service, and his family will scatter his ashes above his beloved desert in the spring. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in his memory to Hospice of the Valley in Phoenix, Arizona.