Gene Otto Gregerson

Gene Otto Gregerson, age 84 of Forest Lake, passed away on January 2nd. He is preceded in death by his wife Lois; his sister Marlys and her husband Denny Englund; and his niece Janna Christianson. Gene is survived by his children, John and his wife Patti, Deb and her husband Francis Duxbury; 7 grandchildren, Ann (Dave) Schnorr, Kim (Ken) Schmidt, Glen (Emily), Lyndsay Gregerson and Ross Gregerson, Ryan (fiance Nadine) Christensen, Kari (fiance Paul Gregorich) Christensen; 11 great-grandchildren, Tyler, Katherine and Jacob Schnorr, Calvin, Teddy, Henry and Lydia Schmidt, Chloe and Ashley Gregerson, Alex and Amelia Gregorich; siblings, Lowell (Marilyn), Joy (Richard) Hammer; brother-in-law Jack Nygren; special friend Bea; many other family members and friends. In honor of Dads wishes, a family graveside service will be held. Special appreciation to staff at Elder Haven in Forest Lake and St. Croix Hospice for their kindness and care. Gene was always the curious one. He had a wide range of interests; science, mechanics, woodworking, photography, electronics. He liked the journey of learning much more than the end result. He liked to experiment and tinker, and most often had moved on to the next project before completing the present one. Gene had little time for aesthetics and could fix things with the most unusual parts or ingredients. Gene, although he described himself as a runner and did participate in running events, had little interest in sports or in playing games. His passion was reading, learning, experimenting. His choice of reading material changed over time from science fiction to Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, and all manner of how-to books. He always had time for ice cream. Gene spent most of his life acquiring parts for retirement projects. His favorite stores were The Axman, any surplus store, or flee market. If it was worth having one of something, it was better to have 100. It is nice to know someone like Gene because no matter what you needed, he had it, somewhere. It became less nice when it came to moving him. Cases of unopened vacuum tubes, a dozen (maybe three or four dozen) sets of small screwdrivers, 100s of paint brushes, boxes of clamps, two pound coffee cans of ball bearings, keyboards and pipes for a pipe organ, drive train parts for electric cars, and literally tons of other stuff. Gene started at the University of Minnesota, Institute of Technology after graduation from high school but didnt finish, because of a girl. Lois had come from Bowler, WI to visit her sister Barb and brother-in-law Leo, who happened to be renting rooms in the home of Otto and Mabel Gregerson in St. Paul, MN. Gene and Lois were married in 1949. In 1950, Gene had been activated with the Minnesota Army National Guard. In early 1951 a pregnant Lois joined Gene at Camp Rucker, Alabama where John was born March 28, 1951. After Genes discharge, he and Lois came back to St. Paul, where Gene started work at 3M as a Lab Technician. Deb was born December 30, 1954. Gene spent 34 years at 3M before retiring in 1985. Upon retiring, Gene and Lois would summer on Madeline Island and winter in Arizona, until Lois died in 2002. Over the years they enjoyed square dancing, traveling, socializing with church friends, and ice cream. It hadnt been noticed until Lois died, that Genes mental faculties had started to decline. He would easily get lost without Lois telling him where to go, and continued to be lost for the next ten years. For two years following Lois death, Gene stayed with family members, then three years at Woodbury Villa, and the last five years at Elder Haven. He never was able to really find home again until Tuesday, January 2, 2012. His special friend Bea helped him through the last few years and we appreciate Bea and her family for accepting Gene as part of their family. Now he is truly home.