Omer Eugene Loranger

Dad passed the morning of June 3rd of congestive heart failure at age 97 in his Hagerman home of 50 years. He had a remarkable life. He was born in Saskatchewan, Canada in a dirt floor cabin in 1927, his mother died young, and he was raised by his father and extended family. Speaking only French he worked on the farm and rode his pony on his daily job of keeping the cattle off of the railroad tracks during the depression. He hated peas and oatmeal to this day because of that poverty and insisted on ham at every holiday as a badge of prosperity. He was conservative with money and would fix anything using duct tape, baling twine and ingenuity before buying anything new. The family moved to the United States and his father enrolled Gene in Catholic school to help him learn English. The nuns are credited for teaching him how to play the guitar, and Theo, his father, scrimped and saved to purchase his first guitar and lessons, making monthly payments. He graduated high school in California. Gene was married and divorced and had one son David Eugene Loranger from that marriage. David proceeded dad in death, also dying of congestive heart failure. Drafted into the Army during the Korean conflict, he was stationed in Chicago and assigned the job of performing music for the weekly Army radio and television programs. Gene had an excellent memory and sense of rhythm and was assigned the duty of morse code communications operator. He hated Chicago and said that he had never been so cold in all his life. After his military service, Gene returned to California and played jazz guitar and was an owner of The World of Strings in Long Beach. He was hired to entertain guests on the Sun Valley ski train as part of the Hap Miller Orchestra at the Sun Valley Resort. He met a beautiful bank teller, Beverly Bates, who became the love of his life and wife in 1963. They had two children, Jill and Joel. Gene left seven grandchildren to carry on his family lineage, and several great grandchildren with one on the way. Bev and Gene sold the music store and moved to Idaho in the early 70's and bought their 60-acre ranch in Hagerman. Gene worked the ranch during the day, raised horses, ran his luthier business repairing any and all string instruments with incredible talent, and played gigs at night. One of the highlights in his musical career was getting to play the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, the one and only time he ever got to use his passport. We have also heard the story of him having to borrow a dinner jacket that was too small to be the featured soloist at the Sun Valley Symphony, and the night at the Duchin room when Hemmingway came in. Gene taught guitar at the College of Southern Idaho for many years, retiring in his 80s. He always said the people signed up for his class to get an easy A, but his students loved learning from him. Everyone remembers dad as the person who loved his family, coffee, a good prime rib, popcorn, ice cream, his "million-dollar dog Bella" and as the person with countless stories to tell around the dining room table. We will miss hearing your stories and the lovely sound of your guitar, dad. Love you, Jill