Eugene Austin King

Part One – 1936 to 1960

Eugene King was born on 1936 July 13 in Dunnville, Ontario, to Edward and Ethel King (née Austin). He was the second of three children, Blanche was the older sister, and he had a younger brother, Robbie. Dunville was a town of 4,000 people in 1940, situated at the mouth of the Lower Grand River on Lake Erie. Gene was very proud of his hometown, and the values he learned in Dunnville stayed with him throughout his life.

Some of Gene’s earliest memories were of the second world war. News from the European theatre was daily, but news from the Pacific theatre was far less frequent. When news did arrive from the Pacific theatre it was intense. Gene found this confusing, and of course as a young boy he couldn’t grasp the vastness of the Pacific Ocean. This led to a life long fascination of the World War 2 Pacific theatre.

Gene’s father owned the towns’ dry cleaners, and Gene would work part-time there. He also spent considerable time helping out on his uncles’ farms on Kings Row. When his son, Barry, asked him why it was called Kings Row, Gene looked at him and must have thought he was stupid ‘Because that’s where all the Kings lived’ he replied. Barry did feel stupid.

Gene had fond memories of the outdoor life, including camping. Gene was active in sports, playing hockey. He was also the catcher on the Dunnville Mudhens. Gene loved baseball, and listened to New York teams on the radio. He repeatedly asked his parents for permission to go to New York and see some baseball games in person. He also enjoyed tuning into the Saturday night broadcasts of the Grand Ole Opry from the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.

In 1954, when Gene was 18, his parents said ‘Yes, you can visit New York’. He managed to find Ebbets field in Brooklyn, and the Polo Grounds in Manhattan, but Gene never did manage to find Yankee stadium in the Bronx.

The year 1954 also saw Gene begin his career in banking at the Bank of Toronto in Dunnville.

Gene enjoyed his beer, and with New York state allowing legal drinking at 18 (Ontario was 21 at the time) there were several visits to Buffalo and Niagara Falls New York. He and his friends would park their car on the Canadian side of the border and walk across. Canadian officials would always ask them upon their return if their fathers were picking them up. They lied. Gene claimed that the walk across the river, especially in winter, always sobered them up.

In 1957 Gene transferred to the Toronto-Dominion bank in Toronto. He had a meeting at King and Bay with Human Resources, and they told him his new branch was at Yonge and St. Clair, pointed him in the direction of the subway, and told him to get off at St. Clair station, the TD-Bank is on the corner. Gene’s new branch phoned Human Resources a few hours later asking where he was. They were informed he left hours ago. Gene was lost. He did manage to find the branch by the end of the business day.

In 1959, Gene was visiting Rita in hospital along with some of his other friends. Also visiting was Helen McNab. The fact that he met his wife in a hospital became the fodder of many jokes.

Gene and Helen were soon engaged, and they were married in March 1960. A honeymoon in New York City with a brief stop in Niagara Falls followed. Gene and Helen, later that year, visited the UK so Helen could introduce him to her family.

Shortly after their marriage, Gene gained a brother, when Gene’s sister, Blanche, married Glen.

Part Two – 1961-1970

Gene and Helen settled into married life. Gene introduced camping to Helen, and there were several trips to Algonquin, Arrowhead, and Bon Echo – an area where Gene had frequented when he was a boy. They also went to Montreal to celebrate Expo.

Gene received the news in the summer of 1962 that he would be a father. Barry arrived one month early, but four days late in January. Helen was in labour for four days before they did a cesarean section. Gene spent most of the four days in a bar across from Women’s College Hospital waiting for Barry to arrive.

Gene became an uncle in 1965 with the arrival of Karen and Wendy.

His daughter, Tracey, was born in 1966. Given the way Barry procrastinated, Tracey was delivered by cesarean section. Gene’s liver only had to endure one day of drinking waiting for her arrival.

A nephew arrived in 1967, with the birth of Robbie, and two more nieces with the arrival of Lisa and Suzanne in 1969.

Gene and Helen became homeowners in 1969. It was a semi-detached house with a backyard that allowed Gene to reconnect with his farming roots. Vegetables were planted, flowers, and some rose bushes. Gene loved to garden.

Part Three – 1971-1980

Travel continued to happen throughout the 1970’s, with camping at Bon Echo, Arrowhead, the Montreal area, and Quebec City. Gene would often spend the first two weeks camping with the family when they went to Arrowhead, then go back to work leaving Helen and the kids to spend another week in the great outdoors, and bringing the family home the following weekend.

There were a couple of road trips to Myrtle Beach, and Orlando, and after 20 years working at the bank, Gene was entitled to one month’s vacation each year. This gave enough time for longer road trips to the west coast, where some of Gene’s in-laws had relocated.

The seventies also saw Gene take up skiing again, something he had done when he was young. It was something the family could do together, and ski equipment was given to the family as a Christmas present. Helen gave skiing the old college try, but after a couple of years realized it was not for her. Skiing was something Gene did with Barry and Tracey. They had a ski membership at Dagmar, and went every weekend.

Gene was also a hockey dad, and while Helen and Tracey went to the games, it was just Gene and Barry going to Barry’s practises. Practises were usually very early on Sunday mornings. Barry remembers one particular morning when he learned when it was okay to lie. Gene was always early. They left early; Barry was sitting in the front seat wearing all his hockey equipment when Gene was pulled over for speeding at 6:15am. The Police officer saw Barry and said, “You’re going to a hockey practise?” Gene replied, “Yes, and we’re running late.” Barry was just about to correct his father by telling the police officer that we were in fact early, but the look Gene shot Barry clearly inferred that no amount of hockey equipment will save Barry if he opened his mouth and stated that they were early. The police officer gave them a warning and wished Barry a good practice.

The 1970’s had Gene becoming an uncle again with the arrival of Graham in 1971, Malcolm in 1973, Danya in 1975, and Erika in 1978. Uncle Gene had six nieces and three nephews.

In 1973, Gene and Helen moved to Bow Valley Drive and there they remained. Moving day was eventful. They discovered that they had an incredibly beautiful backyard. When they placed the offer for the house, it was a moonless night, and pouring down rain. They were told there were trees, but they couldn’t see them. It has always been ironic that the selling point of their house wasn’t actually seen by Gene and Helen.

The backyard is beautiful, but Gene soon discovered that planting food simply wouldn’t work. There was an abundance of wildlife: deer, rabbits, squirrels, and of course racoons. They did leave the flowers alone, and Gene’s green thumb enjoyed years of gardening.

Gene, however, did not enjoy the running battles with racoons. Leaving garbage outside was simply a no-no and required lots of cleaning if done. A racoon also decided that the roof was a perfect spot to raise her family. Gene had to go up on the roof with Barry’s hockey stick to finally convince the racoon to leave. She grabbed her children by the scruff of the neck and threw them down the roof. She then begrudgingly left herself, slowly, giving Gene the evil eye on her way off the roof.

The decade closed with a trip to Alberta to revisit Banff, and go to Jasper. Only Gene, Helen and Tracey went, as Barry opted to remain at home. The children were getting older.

Part Four – 1981-2000

Gene and Helen continued to camp, but now by themselves as Barry and Tracey pursued their growing independence. The tents and tent trailer from the 1960s and 1970s gave way to a house trailer. Gene had wanted one ever since he pitched the tent trailer in the Rockies on a cold night with rain pounding down. After the tent was pitched, he went to the washroom and passed a house trailer. The man was drinking a beer and watching tv and the woman was cooking some food. They were both dry and warm. Yes, that was the way to go.

Gene continued to ski, often alone, as Barry and Tracey were working part-time weekends. More often than not, though, Barry did join him for some night skiing. Barry was now able to partake in after ski activities, and they did a memorable trip to Jay Peak in Vermont. Gene discovered a beautiful resort in Ellicottville, New York. Frequent trips were made to Holiday Valley, usually with Barry, and sometimes Tracey joined them.

Tracey moved out in 1985. Barry was in no rush: he waited until 1989. Gene now had an office (Barry’s old bedroom), which would come in handy later on.

1991 saw his niece, Karen, marry Cam. Gene also retired, and a six-week trip to the US followed with a one month stay in Clearwater, Florida.

Retirement brought about a new opportunity. The bank asked Gene to sell RRIFs on their behalf. The new office became his second home, he was able to continue banking without going into the bank. He was an employee of one. Gene really enjoyed selling RRIFs and was very disappointed when the banks stopped using agents in 2000.

Retirement also saw the end of the House Trailer. It was time to buy a Motorhome. Helen’s three-cylinder Sirocco car was towed behind it, and Gene and Helen continued to camp.

In 1993 Karen’s sister, Lisa, married Terry. Time was marching on.

Barry was also marching on, a little further than Gene would ever imagine. Barry moved to Korea to teach English in 1995.

The Fall of 1995 also had Gene go in for quadruple bypass surgery. Helen was surprised; they had him sitting up on the bed the next day, walking the day after that, and home by the weekend.

The following year, in 1996, Tracey moved to Vancouver.

In the Fall of 2000 Gene had another episode with his heart. While he was in Scarborough General, Helen also fell ill, and was also admitted to Scarborough General. Apparently, it was against the rules for patients to travel between floors. Gene told the nurse, “I’m going, and you’re not stopping me.” Off he went.

Part Five – 2001 to 2023

Gene and Helen recovered from their medical incidents and life continued but Gene was told by the doctor that he could no longer ski. Unfortunately, Helen was also in the doctor’s room when he was given this information. Helen made sure he didn’t ski again.

The Motor Home was reaching the end of its life. It needed some major repairs to be road worthy, and given their age and health problems, Gene and Helen decided that repairing it, or buying a new Motor Home, wasn’t practical. Their camping days were over, but not their traveling.

Camping was replaced by finding the best restaurants within a 50km radius of their house. That was accomplished relatively quickly, and Gene and Helen expanded their radius to 100km. Barry was always impressed by the quality of the restaurants they took him to during his yearly visits.

Traveling continued with an Alaskan cruise, several trips to Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, a couple of trips to both Halifax and Sault Ste. Marie, and Newfoundland. The family was reunited in Las Vegas in 2007, and again in 2015 in Sidney, on Vancouver Island. In 2015 Gene, Helen, and Barry visited Nashville. Gene finally got to go to the Grand Ole Opry, something he had always wanted to do.

Gene and Helen also had a lifelong love of the theatre. They were members of the Mirvish subscription series, and supported the local community theatre in both Scarborough and Whitby. They were regular visitors to the Capital Theatre in Port Hope, and to the theatres in Stratford, though Barry was surprised when he joined them on one trip – neither of them liked Shakespeare. Gene and Helen also made several trips to Branson and the theatres there.

Gene was a Great Uncle, literally, and factually. Jamie, Kelsey, Sophie, Miles and Sebastian can attest to that.

In 2018, Gene began to have difficulties, and was diagnosed with dementia. Barry came back from Korea in the summer of 2020 to help out. Both Gene and Helen took turns going into the hospital, but the time together was enjoyable, as was the food and frequent episodes of humour.

In the Fall of 2020, Helen was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. She passed away in the spring of 2021.

Helen’s passing and the pandemic didn’t make for a good mood. Eventually, restrictions were lifted, and Barry got more comfortable taking Gene out and about. There were a few trips to Niagara Falls, and several downtown. The Toronto Islands were a favourite destination. Gene’s passion for baseball remained, and games were on tv every night. There were also several trips to the Roger’s Centre to see the Jays in person.

Tracey visited for Gene’s 85th birthday.

In the summer of 2022, Gene got a new diagnosis; it was not dementia. Gene had Progressive Supranuclear Palsy. This made more sense to Barry. When Gene wanted to, he was following things. Gene didn’t always care to listen, or follow things, but he was capable of it. New medication improved his mobility.

Tracey was able to visit a couple of times this year, and was here for Thanksgiving. Trips to the Hockey Hall of Fame, restaurants, and a Toronto Marlies game were on the agenda.

Unfortunately, Gene’s disease was progressive, and Gene did start having more and more bad days. Gene was having problems as Barry was readying him for bed, and over Gene’s objections, Barry insisted on going to the hospital. Paramedics arrived just after Gene had left this good earth. Gene was 87 years young.

Eugene Austin King

1936 July 13 to 2023 November 22

Rest in Peace