Eugene (Gene) Lawrence Marvin, age 89, of Madison, Wisconsin, passed away on Sunday, December 22, 2024 at his home in Oakwood Village Prairie Ridge. He was born on March 4, 1935 in Three Rivers, Michigan, the eldest son of John and Evangelene (Rahn) Marvin. He was preceded in death by his wife Isobel Ann (Mathieson) in 2017. Gene and Isobel were married on August 17, 1957 in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan. Gene graduated from the University of Michigan in 1957 with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering. He was awarded a Masters Degree of Science by Michigan State University in 1968, and earned his PhD in Mechanics from Michigan State University in 1971. Gene and Isobel raised two sons and have lived in 7 different states throughout their marriage ranging from Grantham, New Hampshire on the East coast, to Sequim, Washington on the West coast, but spending the bulk of their marriage in the Midwest in Lansing Michigan and Champaign, Illinois. Gene’s active duty in the U.S. Navy began in August 1957, converting to reserve status in August 1960. Gene was honorably discharged in June 1967 with a rank of LT (Civil Engineering Corp.). During his long engineering career, Gene worked for the Highway Department for the State of Michigan, the U.S. Army Construction Research Laboratory (CERL) in Champaign, Illinois, the Pentagon in Washington D.C. and retired from the U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) in Hanover, New Hampshire in 1995, where he served as the Chief of the Experimental Engineering Division. He remained very active in his later years, continuing to play golf and enjoying hiking and daily walks, billiards and chess games with Emilie Scheerenberger, his late-in life dear companion at Oakwood Village Prairie Ridge in Madison. He is survived by his sons Charles and James (Michelle), living in Madison, and four grandchildren, Julia, Benjamin, Genevieve and Kate. He is also survived by his brothers Charles (Sandy) of Portage, Michigan and Robert of Three Rivers, Michigan, and his sister Mary (John) Martinson of Centreville, Michigan. His brother John (Ruth Anne) of Grand Rapids, Michigan died in 2017. A celebration of Gene’s life will take place at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 1, 2025 at the Tree of Life Chapel at Oakwood Village Prairie Ridge in Madison. In lieu of flowers, donations in his honor are requested to the American Cancer Society.
