Eugene Edmond Herrington

Eugene “Gene” Herrington was born in Auburn California in 1936 and passed in April 2020 at age 83. Gene died suddenly from an accidental fall. He had always said he hoped to be here one day and gone the next, and this is how he passed. Gene spent most of his life living in the Auburn area and was a Placer High School graduate. He is survived by his wife of 40 years, Marilyn, his daughters Cynthia (and husband Steve) Stefani, Pamela Herrington, stepchildren Pamela Bundy, Matthew Chase, and Christopher Chase, his three sisters, Kay, Ginger, and Carol, 9 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren.

Gene had spent his life working in all aspects of construction, building bridges big and small, commercial properties, and homes. His last business, Herrington Precast, built commercial concrete benches that can be seen at the new Auburn cemetery, trash receptacles and flowerpots that currently line several downtown Auburn streets, concrete water fountains and picnic tables that were shipped to Hawaii, and across the continental U.S. A faithful Christian man he attended several churches in the area, supported Prison Ministries by providing employment to those newly released from prisons to give them a chance at a new start. At the Wolf Mountain Campground, he volunteered his time improving the facilities and grounds.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions no service can be held at this time. A Notice will be placed on the Chapple of the Hills web site when a memorial service is planned.

Eugene “Gene” Herrington was born in Auburn, CA, in 1936 to Greeley and Myrtle Herrington as their third child. Gene had two older sisters, Katherine and Virginia, and one younger sister Carol. They would spend many of their childhood years living in a house on Linden St. in Auburn from which they would walk to elementary school in what is now Auburn’s City Hall. During World War II, with Greeley away in the Navy, they began renovations on a burned-out mortuary in old town Auburn, that became the first office of G. S. Herrington Construction. When Gene was 14 years old, G. S. Herrington Construction was contracted to put in place the water tank that served the south Auburn area for many years and still sits on Herrington Dr. Gene was instrumental in figuring out how to use the equipment they had to bring the tank across open land and up a steep hill as there were no roads in the area at that time. On his 16th birthday Gene not only obtained his driver’s license but also his commercial license which allowed him to begin driving cement mixers for his dad that same day.

G. S. Herrington Construction would eventually move to an undeveloped area of south Auburn now called Skyridge. This area was developed by G. S. Herrington Construction first with a wood mill, which can still be seen on Herrington Dr., that provided lumber to build homes and businesses for the G.I.’s returning from WWII. The section of Herrington Dr. that runs across the top of the hill in a north/south direction became a private airport used by Gene and others in the company to fly between the company’s office near the mill, and job sites when the company began building bridges on forestry roads as far north as Shasta County to bridges on highway 1 in Big Sur. Gene loved flying and continued to fly for many years. After G.S. Herrington Construction bought the “big white whale of a building”, the old “Montgomery Wards” building, in downtown Auburn, Gene became very involved in rebuilding it into the Gold Country Mall.

G. S. Herrington Construction continued to build buildings in Placer county and Auburn. Some of the projects included, an elementary school that has become Auburn’s Police Department, the Chevrolet Dealership, Persimmon Terrace Apartments, and many of the homes in the Skyridge development. In the 1970’s Gene began his own company providing grading services and decomposed granite. Gene married his second wife of 40 years, Marilyn, in 1979. Around that time, Gene began Herrington Precast Inc. which operated out of the old sawmill. It produced commercial concrete products such as picnic tables, benches, flower pots, and garbage cans. These can be seen in the new Auburn cemetery, on Lincoln Way in Auburn, at CALEXPO and as far away as Hawaii. A faithful Christian man he attended several churches in the area, supported Prison Ministries by providing employment to those newly released from prisons to give them a chance at a new start. Following the sale of Herrington Precast, Gene volunteered at the Wolf Mountain Campground. Eventually, it became more important to Gene to remain closer to home to assist his much-loved wife.

Gene died suddenly in April 2020 of an accidental fall from a tall ladder at 83. Gene had always said he hoped to be here one day and gone the next, and this is how he passed. Gene is survived by his daughters Cynthia (and husband Steve) Stefani, Pamela Herrington, stepchildren Pamela Bundy, Matthew Chase, and Christopher Chase, his three sisters, Kay, Ginger, and Carol, 9 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren. He will be greatly missed by his family, and friends. Due to Covid-19 restrictions no service will be held at this time. Please check the Chapple of the Hills web site for when a memorial will be held.