Eugene G Lins
August 21, 1928 - June 25, 2017
Obituary
Eugene George Lins was born August 21, 1928 in Cologne, MN, the 5th of 14 children. He grew up working in his father’s meat market and on the Lins Glad and Peony Farm. In 1950, he joined the Air Force, serving four years in Biloxi, MS. After his Honorable Discharge, he attended The Milwaukee School of Engineering, receiving his triple E Bachelor’s Degree (Electrical Electronic Engineering). After graduation in 1958, he accepted an offer from the Boeing Aerospace Company in Seattle, WA. While there he met and married his wife, Shirley. Together they have three daughters. He retired from Boeing in 1992.
Gene’s father, E.H. Lins, was known internationally for his Gladiolus and Peony Plants. In Seattle, Gene spent many years growing and collecting his father’s peonies; the garden he put together contains most of the E.H Lins’ surviving peony varieties.
He was also talented mechanically, understanding how machines worked. When he couldn’t find the right tool for a project, he built it. The house he and his wife shared contains countless examples of his mechanical artistry and ingenuity. He also had an insatiable curiosity for watching anything grow.; if he got hold of a seed, he would plant it, or when he acquired a cutting from an interesting plant, he would nurse it along to see how it grew and bloomed, sharing any of the resulting plants with other gardeners.
Gene was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in the fall of 2016 and passed away in June 2017. He is survived by his wife, daughters, and sons-in-law, and nine brothers and sisters. He will be greatly missed, but his family and friends are confident that he is in a better place.
Our thoughts and prayers are with you all at this time. We will always remember Gene when our Peonys bloom.
With much love to you all.
Jim and Marion