Gene Johnson Schroeder

Our beautiful Father, Gene Johnson Schroeder Jr. of San Diego, California passed away on June 23, 2024. At 96 years young, he was just as articulate, sharp, fun-loving, and witty as he always had been. He was born on September 27, 1927, in Abbeville, South Carolina to Marguerite (Scott) Schroeder and Jean Johnson Schroeder, Sr. He grew up living between Abbeville and Augusta, Georgia until 1943 when he joined the US Navy during WWII. When he saw San Diego as a young sailor it was love at first sight, and he knew then that if he survived the war he wanted to spend the rest of his life there.

When Gene was 16, he got his mother's consent allowing him to enlist in the Navy. He went to boot camp at Whiting Field in Florida and was assigned to the USS Wisconsin becoming a "plank-owner" as part of the first crew on board after the ship's commissioning in 1944. He served as a gun striker seeing action in the Pacific theater, participating in the Philippines Campaign and the Battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. He was humble about his service, and recently looking back at that crucial time in his life and our nation's history he said, "I just wanted to get out there and fight and do my duty for the country. The most important thing I did was join."

After the war, he studied engineering at Georgia Tech and came right back to San Diego where he began working at Convair/General Dynamics as an aerospace engineer. Among other assignments, he worked on the Atlas Missile Program, and later on, the redesign of the McDonnell Douglas F-4N. He loved the aerospace industry and was pleased to play a part in it.

He not only loved his family, he enjoyed us, and he made that evident through his words, his actions, and his attitude. He welcomed his sons-in-law into the family with charm and grace, loved his grandchildren when they came along, and was always so proud to hear of their activities and accomplishments. He loved playing a good game of pinochle with friends. He loved classic cars and sailboats, and often toured the roads and the ocean around San Diego, whether he was driving his '59 Corvette or sailing his Cal-20 sailboat, and he loved his bossa nova jazz, the cool backdrop of his life. He also loved walking and playing the fantastic golf courses in the area. (He had a beautiful swing, and in the day was close to a scratch golfer.) He let the Corvette and the sailboat go when his little girls came along in the early 1960's, and he never looked back. From that time on he shared the beautiful sights in and around San Diego with his family - now in the family car (a '68 Mercury Cougar XR7 coupe, "Augusta Green" in color) or on a sailboat chartered for the afternoon. He loved photography and took hundreds of pictures all along the way, always experimenting with different photographic techniques, recording his family's history, and leaving a treasure trove of beautiful images behind.

He loved college football, always rooting for Georgia Tech, the University of Georgia, and the SEC, in that order, but really, he loved it all - seeing a good rivalry on a Saturday afternoon made for a great day. He also enjoyed keeping up with the San Diego Padres and was a loyal fan of the Chargers even after they moved up the coast. And food - he loved treating us to delicious meals at his favorite restaurants - seafood at Anthony's or Tom Lai's, Mexican food at the Aztec or Tony's Jacal, pepperoni pizza at Lefty's, a great sandwich from a local Point Loma deli, or take out from KFC. He enjoyed life.

Gene is preceded in death by his parents, Marguerite (Scott) Schroeder Morris and Jean Johnson Schroeder Sr., and his sister Nannette (Schroeder) Scoggins Hamilton, his only sibling. He is survived by two daughters and sons-in-law, Leslie and Sam Wilson, and Kristen and Steve Slusser. He is also survived by his grandchildren - two grandsons, Sean Wilson and wife Monica, and Clancy Wilson, and twin granddaughters, Mackenzie (Slusser) and husband Bryson Cook, and Madison (Slusser) and husband Alex Burns. He leaves behind the Scott and Schroeder families spread out all over the USA as well as his "family" at his residence - Lilia and Charlie and all of his caretakers and their families.

We are so thankful for our handsome, intelligent, charming Dad and so blessed he was ours - a Southern gentleman, polite and courteous, and though he was almost blind at the end, he never wanted anyone to go out of their way for him. He always wanted the best for us, expected the best from us, believed we could do anything, encouraged us to try new things and to ask questions, and he enjoyed the many and varied discussions and conversations that followed, answering our questions and encouraging us to find the answers. He shared his appreciation of beauty in nature, in music, and in life with us from our earliest memories. We will miss so much getting to have wonderful conversations with him - he always had time for us. We will also miss the way he loved to laugh - he had such a great laugh - and a wonderful sense of humor. We will miss the way he'd say "I love you right back" (if we beat him to the punch) every time we talked together, and we will miss a million other things that are all treasured memories now. And even though he spent the vast majority of his life in San Diego, he somehow kept his lovely, if faint, Southern accent. Things were not always easy, but the LORD allowed things to come together for us, answering our prayers and Dad's, and has blessed us all with wonderful relationships and a lifetime of cherished memories with our precious Father, Gene J. Schroeder.

Dad, we miss you so very much now and always will, and we love you right back. Forever.

Gene wished to have his ashes scattered privately after his passing. His family is comforted with countless cherished memories of our life and time with him and by knowing his final plans were carried out according to his wishes.

"In my life, I think I did what I had to do when it had to be done." -Gene J. Schroeder, November 2023