Obituary for Gene A. Huskinson Gene Arthur Huskinson, age 79 of Glendive, Montana passed away on Monday, May 7, 2018 at the Glendive Medical Center Extended Care in Glendive. A memorial service will be held at 1:00 P.M. on Saturday, May 26, 2018 at the Silha Funeral Home in Glendive with Reverend Avis Anderson officiating. Interment will be held in July of 2018 in the Union Cemetery south of Lindsay, Montana.
Silha Funeral Home of Glendive has been entrusted with the arrangements. Gene was born on August 20, 1938 in Gananoque, Ontario, Canada to Arthur Henry Huskinson and Helen Jean (Bridgeman) Huskinson. Gene’s mother died in childbirth.
Gene’s dad traveled with his work, so his Uncle Bill and Aunt Naida Huskinson and their son Garry took Gene under their wing. In 1942, they moved to Rowley, Alberta, Canada where his cousin Gail was born in 1950. They considered themselves as siblings.
On May 5, 1945, Gene’s dad married Alice Celia Byers and Gene returned to Ontario where his sister Linda was born in 1950. As a boy, Gene delivered papers and picked berries and other fruit. He loved Spy apples for pies.
Growing up in Ontario, Gene and his family were in many remote areas as his father worked on roads, bridges and dams as a steam shovel and back hoe operator. Gene attended school in Niagara Falls and was even at the Warsak Dam Colony in Pakistan in 1955 and 1956. With no high school there, he returned to Calgary, Alberta to live with Bill and Naida where he finished high school, trade school and worked for Alberta Government Telephone for ten years.
Gene had polio as a toddler, but the effects to his leg never stopped him. He kayaked, hiked, skied, biked, fished, camped and had his private plane license. He admitted that as a youngster he would hide his leg brace in the bushes on his way to school and put it on before he came home.
His cousin remembers him coming for visits with his kayak tied to the roof of his VW bug. In 1968, Gene came to the United States to work, first in North Bend, Washington for Northern Electric Canada, Ltd., then to Northlake, Illinois for Automatic Electric, installing switching equipment and finally to Glendive for Autovon. Autovon, “Automatic Voice Network”, was a worldwide American military communication telephone system during the Cold War.
The Glendive switch installation began in 1968 and was put into operation in 1970, 1 of 70 switches in the worldwide network. Mid-Rivers Communications took over and Gene retired on September 26, 1997 after many supervisor titles. Gene married Betty Diane Eaton on July 1, 1978 in Glendive and he was welcomed by a large family.
Gene and Betty became that special aunt and uncle to many of the family, sharing holidays and special memories. They were licensed Ham amateur radio operators and had an endless supply of good friends. They belonged to the Lower Yellowstone Amateur Radio Club in Glendive and the Theodore Roosevelt Amateur Radio Club in Dickinson, North Dakota.
July was spent with the Ham get-togethers in the Peace Gardens and Glacier National Park. Their trailer was always the one with the most food and treats. Gene was a kind, gentle, conscientious man, with a great smile, who loved the outdoors and learning.
His home was full of novels, atlases, electronic books and he had just ordered language programs for his computer. Gene was preceded in death by his wife Betty, his mother Helen, his father Arthur, his step-mother Alice, his uncle Bill and his aunt Naida. He is survived by his many family and friends in the United States and Canada.
Remembrances and condolences may be shared with the family at: www. silhafuneralhomes.com. To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Gene A. Huskinson please visit our Sympathy Store.
Cemetery Details Union Cemetery Lindsay, MT, , Previous Events Memorial Service , MAY 26. 01:00 PM – 02:00 PM Silha Funeral Homes – Glendive, Montana 221 N. Meade Avenue P.O. Box 848 Glendive, MT, US, 59330 silha@midrivers.com www.
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