Arnold Eugene "Gene" Walser

Arnold Eugene Walser died on Sunday, July 24th at his home in Raleigh, NC. A Celebration of life will be held on Wednesday, July 27, 2016 at 2:00 p.m., Mitchell Funeral Home. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service. Entombment, with masonic rites, will take place at Raleigh Memorial Park

Gene was born on January 20, 1934 in North Wilkesboro, NC to Arnold Douglas Walser and Mary Lou Whitted Walser. His parents moved back to Salisbury, NC shortly afterward, where he lived until 1960. He graduated from Boyden High School (now Salisbury High School) in 1951 and later became a Dale Carnegie Course graduate. He also attended several advanced special educational programs in later years at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and Harvard University in Boston, MA. The Boilermakers International in Kansas City, Kansas employed him for forty-one years before his retirement in 1994. At retirement, he was Field Director of Construction. During his working lifetime, he authored several papers and developed other nationwide programs still being used in the Construction Industry by Labor, Management and Industrial Owners.

Gene and his wife Shirley were members of Fellowship Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, NC where they lived for 50 years. In Greensboro, he was a member of Revolution Masonic Lodge #552 since 1961 and was awarded Lifetime Membership in 2010. He was also a member of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry- Valley of Greensboro, and his beloved Oasis Shriners of Charlotte, NC since 1972. His activities also included his participation and active support of the Greensboro Shrine Club, the Royal Order of Jesters, Court 109 in Charlotte and the Oasis Oriental Band. He is a Past President of the Greensboro Shrine Club and Past President of the South Atlantic States Oriental Band Association (SASOBA) covering seven states. Since retirement, Gene has been more active in his church and supporting the 22 Shriner’s Children Hospitals. He also researched his family genealogy back to 1749 and located the gravesites of all his grandfathers from then to the present.

He married Shirley Turner Walser of Mooresville, NC on Dec 27, 1953 where they made their home in Greensboro, NC since 1960. Surviving Gene is his wife of 62 years, a brother Douglas and wife Virginia, two sisters, Patsy Lautner and husband Max, and Dianne Kolconay. Other living family includes sons Mark Eugene and wife Susan, Daniel Carl and wife Laura, and David Martin Walser. He has eight grandchildren: Lauren, Lisa, Jennifer, Kristin, Melissa, Daniel Jr., Erik, and Ryan; also three great grandchildren, Reese, Harper and Hudson. His father and mother preceded him in death.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Shriner’s Hospital for Children, c/o Oasis Shriner’s, P.O. Box 560666, Charlotte, NC 28256.

Arrangements under the direction of Mitchell Funeral Home at Raleigh Memorial Park, Raleigh, NC.