Eugene George Fast

Eugene was born in Windom, MN on January 17, 1933.  His sister, Betty (Fast-Heymans) joined the family 3 years later and they lived with their parents George K. Fast and Adelia Rambow Fast on a farm near Springfield, MN. Eugene was a doting big brother, teaching his sister how to fish and shoot and doing the normal kid stuff.  Eugene went to work at a very young age. At the tender age of 18 he met and fell in love with Genevieve, courted and married her in Springfield, MN in 1952.  They raised 5 children in Springfield, Rochester and Mankato, MN. Eugene worked hard every day; first working for dairies in Springfield from 1950 to 1961 and then in Rochester from 1961 to 1969.  Having hurt a hand and thumb nerve on the job at Marigold Dairy, Eugene went to work for Pioneer/Viking Vending services in 1970 in Rochester and also drove a school bus for the Rochester ISD for many years before moving to Mankato and going to work for Canteen Vending in 1979.  Eugene and Genevieve moved to Texas in 1982.  He reinvented himself and became a very successful plumber.  He worked for Christianson Plumbing from 1982 until he retired in 2003. In his 20 years with Christianson Plumbing in Austin, TX.  He not only became known for his skills as a plumber, his hard work and devotion to the job, but also for only missing a few days of work in over 20 years of employment.

Eugene found retirement boring and gained employment with the Hutto ISD as a school bus driver, working for another 10 years and enjoying every day being a grandfather figure to all the elementary kids he transported and was responsible for.  He became a true Hutto Hippo fan and kept many stuffed Hippos for the rest of his life.

He finally retired again in 2014, and enjoyed spending time with family, driving places with Genevieve and checking on what all the kids, grandkids, and great-grand kids were up to.

In 2010, his wife became ill and needed specialized care and dad was devoted to her. She passed away in 2015, but Eugene was very independent and continued to keep house, and living on his own until November 2020. Eugene spent time in the hospital, then rehab and moved into an assisted-living home in January, 2021. He was instantly liked as he had a fun-loving and happy personality. Eugene struggled with the isolation caused by Covid-19 as many families have. However, his congestive heart failure caught up with him and he passed away peacefully in his sleep on Sunday morning March 21,2021.

Eugene was known for his love of John Wayne movies, a passion for history mainly, WWII and a constant appetite for cookies with chocolate milk.  His daughter, Diane and granddaughter, M. Katherinne Fast were his principal caregivers in his last year of life.

Eugene lived a full and happy life and will be greatly missed by all who knew him.

Eugene is survived by his only sister Betty Heymans of Minneapolis, Minnesota and five children, Allen Eugene Fast of Cochise, AZ, Diane Ayers of Leander, TX, Denise Tritch of Tucson, AZ, Darla Fast of Glendale, AZ and son Lynn J. Fast of Allen, TX. Eugene was a proud grandfather of 10 grandchildren and 9 great grandchildren.  

Eugene was very generous and gave to many charities in his life. In lieu of Flowers or any other gifts of condolences the family asks you to give a donation to the Disable Veterans of America in his name.  Eugene was very patriotic and this was one of his favorite charities.  See the link below.

http://www.dav.org/