|
| |
Gene Challenner, of New Braunfels, Texas passed away in 2021 at the age of 88. He was born in Oklahoma City, OK and was preceded in death by his parents Ansel and Lucile. He is survived by his wife Marilyn; sister June Prewitt; wonderful children, Cathy, Richard, and Phillip Challenner, and Jeanne Anne Nabavi; his three grandsons, Ryan and Aaron Challenner, and Omeed Nabavi. He is also survived by three step children, Melissa Brooks, Stephanie Gilbert, and Billy Grant Ruhman, along with five step-grandsons, Monroe Eerebout, Rubin Arzate, Isaac Arzate, Ashton Brosi, and Levi Stewart.
Gene attended the University of Oklahoma two years, then transferred to Phillips University where he obtained a BA in biology. He, much later, served on the Phillips University Board of Trustees, and served two years as president of the Phillips University Alumni Association. He was co-founder of the Phillips University Legacy Foundation on which he was Board Chair its first 10 years, then its president.
Gene served his country in the U.S. Army from 1955-58 as an instructor in medical technology at the US Army Medical Training Center in Landstuhl, Germany. While in army training, his daughter Cathy gained a brother, Richard. In Germany, his second son, Phillip, was born. There, also, Gene enjoyed weekend racing competition in his English Hillman family sedan.
Following army service, his career developed. He was a science teacher in Albuquerque, NM for three years during which his second daughter, Jeanne Anne, was born. Upon leaving his teaching career, he joined Red Top, Inc. where he rose to the position of Western Area Director of Operations. In 1975 he became president of Crothall Hospital Services, Ltd in Brisbane and Adelaide, Australia. While there he was honored as Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management. He also lived in New Zealand during that time and named it as his favorite place to live. Upon return to the United States, he became Regional Vice President of Marriott Facilities Management. In 1979 he co-founded and became President of Advanced Environmental Systems in Dallas, TX. After selling Advanced he became owner and President of Southwestern Building Management in Corpus Christi, TX. Gene retired in 1998.
Favorite memories of his included camping with his kids in Colorado, weekend scouting events and canoeing with both his daughter Jeanne Anne and his son Phillip, and off-road riding on his motorcycle in the mountains of Colorado. He eagerly anticipated each annual Christmas reunion with his extended family for the last 20 years where there was bonding through reminiscing "old times," playing word games and eating.
Love of traveling took him to New Zealand, Australia, England, Scotland, Central Europe, the Caribbean, the British West Indies and 46 of the 50 states.
Gene was in Who's Who in Building Service Contracting and served on the School-Industrial Cooperative Committee of the Texas State Technical Institute. He was a member of the Chief Executive Officers Club in Dallas, TX, and president of the Corpus Christi Executive Association. After moving to New Braunfels, he served on the Advisory Board of the Salvation Army, New Braunfels and as President of the Southbank Owners Association.
In addition to a very successful career path, his passion has been to serve the Phillips University Legacy Foundation. Its mission "is to follow the tradition of Phillips University by providing scholarships and opportunities to educate and develop leaders who embody Christian values in their lives, service and work."
Gene was a leader, a gentleman and a scholar. But his children will remember him as Dad and his grandsons as Granddad, the titles for which he was the most proud and grateful.
Services will be held at First Protestant Church of New Braunfels on January 8, 2022 at 1:00pm. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Phillips University Legacy Foundation.
This site may be freely linked, but not duplicated in any way without consent.
All rights reserved! Commercial use of material within this site is prohibited!
© 2000-2024 Oklahoma CemeteriesThe information on this site is provided free for the purpose of researching your genealogy. This material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, for your own research, as long as this message remains on all copied material. The information contained in this site may not be copied to any other site without written "snail-mail" permission. If you wish to have a copy of a donor's material, you must have their permission. All information found on these pages is under copyright of Oklahoma Cemeteries. This is to protect any and all information donated. The original submitter or source of the information will retain their copyright. Unless otherwise stated, any donated material is given to Oklahoma Cemeteries to make it available online. This material will always be available at no cost, it will always remain free to the researcher.