Louis Eugene ""Gene Daley

Gene Daley passed away on January 6, 2016 in Estes Park, Colorado, from injuries suffered in an automobile accident. He was 82. On January 13, 2016 at 5:00pm we will gather at Our Lady of the Mountains Catholic Church, 920 Big Thompson Avenue, Estes Park, Colorado for Holy Rosary. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated on January 14, 2016 at 10:00am at Our Lady of the Mountains Catholic Church, followed immediately by a reception in the church hall. All are warmly invited to attend.

Gene was born on January 26, 1933 in Cementon, upstate New York, now known as Smith’s Landing. His father, Giuseppe Dalfollo, later known as Joseph Daley, and his mother, Margherita Daley, née Tavernar, immigrated to the United States from Carzano, Italy, a northern village in the Tyrolean Alps. Gene grew up speaking Italian and was educated in a one-room schoolhouse while his father worked in the nearby quarry. His parents instilled in Gene the importance of discipline and education as the pivotal keys to success.

In 1949, at the age of sixteen, Gene graduated from high school. For the next two years, he worked at Vager’s Fruit & Vegetable Market until he joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1951, at the age of eighteen. His experience as a Marine shaped the man he was to become; his mother noted, “Gene went into the Marines a boy but came home a man.” In 1954, Gene enrolled at Michigan State University on the GI Bill, at the urging of a high school friend, Alex Varga, who was attending MSU. In 1958, Gene graduated from MSU with a degree in Packaging Engineering. In 1959, he married Marcia Ann Ford of Jackson, Michigan.

Gene had a long career as a Packaging Engineer and Manager, first at the R.T. French Company in Rochester, New York, working on the packaging of French’s Classic Yellow Mustard in the characteristic bulbous glass jar. He then moved to Norton Company, where he worked in management at the coated abrasives plant in Troy, New York. It was during this time that he and his wife, Marcia, settled in Niskayuna, New York, and enjoyed raising a growing family of five children. Gene earned an MBA degree from Union College in Schenectady, New York. In 1976, Gene was promoted and moved his family to Stephenville, Texas in order to manage the opening of the new Norton Company plant there. He remained in Stephenville, Texas until his retirement from Norton Company. In 1996, he relocated to the mountain town of Estes Park, Colorado.

Gene was a lifelong learner, a voracious reader, a conversationalist, an avid follower of political and current news, and an adventurer who enjoyed traveling solo with a backpack during his retirement, the first trip of which was in 1990 to Japan to visit his daughter, Jennifer, who was working in Tokyo. From Tokyo, Gene traveled through China and beyond to the Khyber Pass. Gene enjoyed traveling and learning of new cultures while meeting new people. His family and friends enjoyed hearing of his tales of travel to far-off places such as Cappadocia to the Iranian border or his experiences of living with a subsistence farmer in Uganda then going up into the jungle mountain forests looking for gorillas and finding a big silverback gorilla and his family of twelve just thirty feet away. He traveled to more than a hundred countries while maintaining roots in Estes Park, Colorado.

Gene was a spiritual man and a devout Catholic. He believed in God and miracles and the power of prayer, yet he also believed in UFOs and the authenticity of crop circles. He was open minded and enjoyed meaningful conversation and intellectual debate. He believed that peace could be achieved through the trio of acceptance, forgiveness, and gratitude. As a final gesture of his generosity and selflessness, Gene donated his body to science, which illustrates his strong commitment to education. Gene now resides at the School of Medicine at the University of Colorado, realized through the Anschutz University of Colorado Anatomical Donation program. Two years from now, the medical school will return his cremated ashes to the Daley family, and Gene will be laid to rest next to his wife, Marcia, at Estes Valley Memorial Gardens in Estes Park, Colorado.

Gene will be missed by many, especially his five children, with whom he traveled on occasion. Last summer, Gene and his son, Stephen, attended the Burning Man festival in Nevada. Last winter, Gene hosted the wedding of his daughter, Jennifer, in London, England. Gene also made an extensive road trip with his son, Joseph, through Alaska. Gene traveled to Costa Rica, Hawaii, Canada, Spain, New Zealand, and China with his daughter, Cassandra, and her family. In the words of Gene’s eldest son, Christopher, “All I can think about is all the time and effort and discussions and support and understanding and advice and discipline and fun and laughs and love that we have each received over the years from Dad. It truly is monumental!”

Gene’s wife, Marcia Ford Daley, preceded him in death in 1990. Gene is survived by his five children, Cassandra Daley (and Patrick Doyle) of Colorado Springs, Colorado; Dr. Christopher Daley (and Holly Daley) of Estes Park, Colorado; Jennifer Daley (and Andrew Breer) of London, England; Stephen Dalfollo-Daley (and Paola Daley) of Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Joseph Daley of Fairbanks, Alaska. Gene is also survived by his two sisters, Josephine Welsh (and Jack Welsh) of South Bend, Indiana and Sylvia Diss (and the late Charles Diss) of Potomac, Maryland; as well as six grandchildren, Harrison, Alexander, Tuesday, Emerald, Samantha and Olivia; and nieces and nephews, Kathleen, John, Claire, Jim, Andrea, Ted, and Joe.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in the name of Gene Daley to one of the many charities that he supported, including St. Joseph’s Indian School (www.stjo.org) and Catholic Charities (www.catholiccharitiesusa.org).

The Daley family can be reached via email [email protected].