Eugene Morris Munson

With great sadness, the family of Eugene (Gene) Morris Munson Jr. announce his passing from this life to the next on Saturday June 15, 2024. Gene was born in Portland, OR on July 29, 1925. As a young boy he moved to Vancouver, WA with his mother Doris Munson (Heater) and his father Eugene M. Munson Sr. In 1952 Gene married his loving wife of 66 years Frances M. Munson (Fischer) who passed before him in 2019. Gene and Fran, both devout Catholics and long-time parishioners of St Joseph's parish in Vancouver, are together again as it should be. Gene attended Arnada Elementary, Shumway Jr. High and graduated from Vancouver High School. He received his associate's degree in chemistry from Clark Community College. After high school at the age of 18, Gene joined the Navy in 1943 and served until the end of WWII. His training was in radar, communications and gunnery, stationed in various east coast bases. He flew 'back seat' of the famous Douglas SBD Scout Dive Bomber. He was proud to serve in the Navy and spoke of it often. Putting his chemistry degree/education to good use, he was approached by ALCOA to work in their chemical lab. Gene spent a total of 42 years with ALCOA, the last 4 years as a consultant with Vanalco. He certainly enjoyed the ALCOA/Vanalco reunions over the last few years! Gene was very well known in the community for his numerous volunteer endeavors. He worked tirelessly for the St Joe's Sausage Fest from the original idea to even make it happen, starting in 1971 through the end in 2014. His list of volunteerisms kept him quite busy; The Boy Scouts, St. Vincent de Paul, Thanksgiving and Christmas feeding those in need at Chronis' restaurant before it was transferred to The Quay, Warehouse 23 and Beaches restaurant. He spent a lot of time at lunch at the VFW Post 7824 - thanks for putting up with us. Gene was a busy, hard-working man and father to 5 awesome daughters. Cheers! All of these facts and stats pale in comparison to the man he actually was. If you can define a saint, then Gene is certainly in that category. His kindness to all he met along his life travels, humble beyond words, friendly and gracious to all, no matter the circumstances. He loved his family more than can be imagined and the family all knew it. His radiant smile, joking manner and true gentleman qualities made up the man Gene was. We should all strive to be as good and kind as him. Preceding him in death were his loving wife Fran and eldest daughter Paula Munson. The surviving family includes daughters Molly Zinda (Danny), Jan Bennett (Roger), Lori Melnick (Rich) and MaryKay Munson-Syverson (Brett). Grandchildren - Tamara (aka TJ), BriAnne, Tyler, Travis, Dusty, Alex, Joe, Shasta, Jesse, Zack, Ben, Reid, and Adam and all their spouses. Great Grandchildren - Mia, Kaiya, Rosalee, Paisley, Arianna, Colton, Austin, Maddy, Michael, Westley, Lucy, Tristan, Brooklyn, Kenton, Connor, Pierce, Malcolm, Parker, Leif and Baby Boy XX coming soon. Please join us in celebrating his long and busy life.

Eugene Morris Munson

July 29, 1925 - June 15, 2024