Eugene "Gene" M. Loer

Gene Loer, of Plano Texas, died at age 93 on September 22, 2024, following multiple strokes, and suffering from Alzheimer’s, lung and heart problems. He was born November 26, 1930, in Flat, Texas, to George M. and Maudie (Barton) Loer, and grew up in and around Gatesville, the fifth of eight children.

When he was 17, he joined the US Air Force in 1948 "When it was only three months old" as Gene would say and still in khaki uniforms. After training at Lackland Air Base in San Antonio, and Lowery Field in Denver, he was stationed at Johnson Air Base in Japan, when the Korean War began.

Next, he was assigned to Hill Field, Utah, where he met and married Martha Lou Seibel in 1952, and they were married for 72 years. Their first home was in Florence, Italy, and they moved to Naples, where their daughter Joyce was born. Other assignments took him to Mobile, Alabama where Douglas “Dutch” was born; Charleston, South Carolina where Curtis was born; Roswell, New Mexico; Frobisher Bay, NWT, Canada (unaccompanied); Amarillo, Texas with a TDY (unaccompanied) to Guam; back to Naples, Italy; El Segundo, California; Osan Air Base, South Korea (unaccompanied), finally retiring as a Master Sergeant, in Austin, Texas after a 27-year USAF career.

After 48 years in Austin, Gene and Martha moved to Plano in 2023 to be near family.

Gene and Martha always sang in the military chapel choirs and continued at Faith Presbyterian Church in Austin where they found a church family since none of their children lived nearby.

After retirement from the USAF, he worked for 14 years at the golf course at Bergstrom AFB in the pro shop and the cart barn. He enjoyed playing golf Monday through Friday for many years. When he was 89 and 90, during the COVID-19 pandemic, he missed months of golf, then felt lucky to play about once a week. He lost count of his holes-in-one, but “at least eleven, maybe thirteen.” He told people he had ten, because he had made a list of those he remembered – what golf course, what hole and its length, even which club he used.

Gene liked country music and, especially when he was away on an unaccompanied military assignment, he played guitar or sometimes mandolin and sang with a band.

He loved being active and in addition to his beloved golf, he participated in bowling, competitive roller skate dancing, sulky racing (very briefly), and pitching softball and baseball – always a left-hander, although due to early training he wrote right-handed.

He liked gardening, being outdoors, and was especially proud of his roses. He loved the birds that came to the backyard feeder, and the stray cats, and even the rascally squirrels.

Gene loved children, especially babies in the nursery at church, where he was affectionately called “Papa Gene.”

Gene was known for telling his stories about growing up in a two-room, eight-grade school before they moved from a farm into “town” and his military career, especially his time in NATO and in the Armed Forces Courier Service, and all the places he had been.

Gene is survived by his wife Martha; their children: Joyce Loer Jones and husband Michael, Dutch Loer and wife Colette, and Curtis Loer; ten grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren. One sister, Mary Manning, survives, along with many nieces and nephews.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, January 4 at 10:00am at Faith Presbyterian Church, 1314 E Oltorf Street, Austin TX with a reception to follow.

A graveside service will be held on Sunday, January 5 at 2:00pm at Greenbriar Cemetery near Gatesville TX to bury his cremains near his parents and other family members.

If someone wishes to make a donation in his honor, as Gene said “something for children” so perhaps St Jude’s Children’s Hospital at https://www.stjude.org/donate/ or Shriners’ Hospitals at https://www.shrinerschildrens.org/ . As a golfer, First Tee https://firsttee.org/about/ came to his mind. Alzheimer’s Association https://www.alz.org/ would be appropriate or Faith Presbyterian Church in Austin https://faithpresaustin.org/ is also something he loved.