Gene Riehs' Obituary
Well, the most talented and funniest man you've ever met, or didn't meet, just went to Heaven to make people laugh and up the BBQ game up there.
Gene Leslie Riehs, born in La Grange, Texas on December 28, 1939, to his father, August William Anton Riehs and his mother, Annie Martha Hofer. Gene, or Pop, and even sometimes, Chromosome as some friends affectionately called him loved an incredible life making people laugh wherever he went. He never ceased inspiring people with his endless talents, and generosity. He went from being the proverbial boy who walked miles to school barefoot along the railroad tracks to eventually becoming a rocket scientist. One of Gene's proudest accomplishments was to service his country honorably by enlisting in the Navy on the USS Forrestal aircraft carrier from 1959-1962. He then went on to work as an engineer in the Government Products Division of Texas Instruments for 37 years. He finally boarded the launchpad himself and left this Earth on April 1, 2021, at the age of 81 years young.
Left to celebrate his legacy and share the light he instilled in them is his wife, Alice Riehs; son, Steve and his wife Laurel Riehs; stepdaughters, Jennifer Melton and Catherine Deal; stepson, Robert Melton; step-grandchildren, Jared and his wife, Elayna Kopf and their child Martin Kopf, Robin and her husband, Josh Gaddis and their children, Clarissa and Ellie Gaddis, Andrew Ince, Ashley and her husband, Jered Mounger and their children, Alexis, Landen, and Kamryn Mounger; and last but definitely not least, his faithful pooch, Buddy.
He was predeceased by his parents, August and Annie Riehs, and his brother, Raymond Riehs.
Pop will glow in the hearts of all those he touched, whether by his jokes, witticisms, culinary masterpieces, or that beautiful smile of his. The lucky ones were the ones who were blessed to witness all of the above.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Meals on Wheels Foundation
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