RIP Eugene Wesley Manton

b:April 9, 1956  d:June 14, 2022 - Age 66

I had known Gene since 1977, just after I was married for the first time to Lettie (now popularly known to friends as Windy).  He had undergone a sort of change in his old age, putting on a bit of weight (he was around 150 pounds in high school from what I understand). I saw pictures of him before he passed and he was looking pretty bad. He'd been suffering from heart failure for a number of years, likely caused by sleep apnea for MANY years. People tried to tell him that he had it (including me), but it wasn't until about 10 years before he died that he finally believed it. He occasionally took his doctor's advice and tried to get treated for it, but it wasn't until the last several years of his life that he started listening. By then, it was too late.

He was an interesting individual, to say the least. He could be a great friend, but according to Jay, one of his classic lines was, "The cats are up here (puts his hand at a high level) and you're down here (and you can imagine how he motioned that).

His favorite state was unemployed. But hopefully, if there is something after this, he's having a much better experience than he did here.

Anyway, if you remember that I said I was the culprit in the co-dependance case with Bob (in a previous page), I was certainly doing that with Gene, as well. He'd come to me for EVERYTHING that went wrong with anything he owned and wanted me to do all of his letter writing, pretend to be his lawyer (never did that), and who knows what else. I've solved my co-dependent issues. Just took too long to figure it out. Rest in peace, Gene!

Above are photos of Gene at his mom's house taken in summer, 2009. I'm in the one with the red car. Lost a lot of weight since then. That car was a rental...a 2009 Chevy Impala. Not bad as long as you don't put any miles on 'em. :-)  At least they're great for a long drive.