Eugene Allen "Gene" Mead

Family and friends mourn the loss of county native Gene Mead. Gene passed away Thursday, March 23, 2006. He was born July 6, 1927, in San Luis Obispo at the Mountain View Hospital. He attended Hope Elementary School and graduated from San Luis Obispo High School in 1945. At the young age of 15, Gene helped with the war effort transporting the USO girls from Santa Barbara to Camp San Luis during the night with black-out lamps. Immediately upon graduation from high school, Gene enlisted in the Navy and was sent to Japan on the USS Iowa. Upon his return from the Navy, he married Loretta Rhyne in 1947. He worked 35 years for Pacific Bell Telephone Company, retiring in 1982. He continued employment with PG&E at Diablo Canyon as a communications expert. He later enjoyed driving tractor for the Darway Brothers. He is survived by his wife of nearly 10 years Dolores Mead; his children, Debra Mead of Lincoln/Auburn, Calif., Chuck and Terri Riedel of San Luis Obispo, and Daniel and Diane Mead of Arroyo Grande and his step-children, Michael Troth and Diane Brown. He is also survived by his much-loved grandchildren, Erin, Evan, Jessica, Joel, Corrine and Bailey.