Eugene John Koschella

Eugene John Koschella passed away July 7, 2022.  He will be greatly missed by those he left behind.

Gene was born in Detroit, Michigan on October 18, 2022, to John and Eleanor Koschella.  He was the oldest of four children and the only son.  He grew up in Dearborn, Michigan where he worked for Ford Motor Company while in high school.  After he graduated from Fordson High School, he joined the Air Force, where he served at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, during the Korean War.

Gene met his wife of 64 years, Shirley Ann Koschella née Cocreham, at the University of Texas, where he received his undergraduate degree.  They lived a short time in Cleveland, Ohio, where he received his MBA from Case Western Reserve.  Gene also received a master’s degree from Oglethorpe University in Georgia.

Gene worked most of his life as an Electrical Engineer.  He worked as Assistant to the Vice President at the Electronics Industries Association.  In that position, he was responsible for a wide variety of tasks, including putting on the annual electronics shows and lobbying and attending congressional hearings on the development of rules and regulations for the fast-evolving consumer electronics industry.  For example, he was instrumental in arguing that consumers should be freely able to record television shows on their VHS or Beta devices.  He also worked at several other consumer and industrial electronics companies, including Machine Tool Builders.

Gene loved to travel and was one of the original members of the American Airlines Million Miles Club.  He traveled to most of the United States, as well as many countries in Europe and Asia.  He was very involved with the VICA International Skills Olympics and served as a judge at the ISO in Korea and assisted with the ISO in other countries, such as Ireland.  He would bring his family back gifts from everywhere he went.

Gene was loved as the quintessential husband and father of two girls.  He was renowned for his puns and “dad jokes.”  He loved to poke fun at himself and knew every Polish joke ever made.  His practical jokes when he was a child are the stuff of legends. He was also known for his ability to fix anything – from the tiniest link on a bracelet to televisions to cars.  He had a room full of any kind of tools imaginable.   He was the quintessential husband and father.

Gene is survived by his daughter, LeeAnn Stevenson and LeeAnn’s children Roberta and Jamie, his daughter and son-in-law, Lara and John Reenan and their children, Sabrina, Nick, Amanda, Katherine, Lillianne, and Silvia, his sisters and their husbands, Marilyn and William Brehio and Dolores and Ray Zeilinski.

Gifts may be made in lieu of flowers to www.apdaparkinsons.org/memorial-tribute