Eugene “Gene” John Tosie
December 20, 1923 – January 5, 2019
Celebrating 95 Years of Life and Love
Eugene “Gene” John Tosie lived his life as a proud World War II Navy veteran, a successful home builder and businessman, a husband, father, grandfather, brother, friend, mason and sports fan. At 95, he was full of life with abounding energy, a positive outlook and a can-do attitude. He was the patriarch of his family and like the bricks he laid to build on each other, he built up his family and friends. He taught his brothers how to lay brick and he trained any who would ask how to work in the business that he loved.
Gene, known affectionately by his grandchildren as “GrandPa and Papa”, was a loving husband to his wife, Carol Montegomery Tosie, whom he joined on Saturday morning at the gates of Heaven. In addition to his wife, he was preceded in death by his daughter, Sherry, seven of his siblings and his parents He is greatly missed by his children and their spouses, Dr. Richard “Dick” and Ellen Tosie, Dr. John and Teresa Tosi, Shep and Pinkie Brown, and Mark McKee, as well as his grandchildren: Jennifer Ericson; Richard Tosie, and Kyle and Katie Tosie; Wallis, Avery and Emerson Tosi and his brother, Ted Tosie and his wife, Farajean Tosie, along with many wonderful nieces and nephews.
He lived most of his life in St. Louis, Missouri, with the exception of decades of winters in West Palm Beach and Pensacola, Florida where he later moved. Gene believed remaining active was the ticket to a long and healthy life. As a strapping mason, he was strong and imposing and at 95, he still resembled his younger self. He worked out at the gym three days a week and just before his departure, he was instructing the staff at his retirement center on the proper way to lift weights and count sets.
Born December 20, 1923 to John and Evelyn Tosie in St. Louis, Gene was one of nine children – with four brothers Bill, John, Ted, and Tom, and four sisters Jane, Laverne, Ramona and Patsy. Gene was educated at St. John’s School and 87 years later, his granddaughter, Emerson, 8, started school in the same building under a new name: MOSAIC. Local TV station KMOV shared the unique and heartwarming story with viewers in the summer of 2017 when the school opened as MOSAIC – video is available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-La5v0GiSI
In 2016, Gene was thrilled to be invited on an “Honor Flight” that took him to Washington, DC for a special awards ceremony and monument tour – he would be one of the last World War II veterans to take that trip. From that day, Gene proudly wore a World War II ball cap almost everywhere he went. He was honored when people would stop and talk to him and thank him for his service.
When his daughters, Pinkie and Sherry were teens, Gene met two young boys, ages 4 and 5, who lived a couple of houses down. He’d play ball in the front yard with them and admired from a distance a strong, successful, loving mother. One day, the boys, Dick and John, introduced Gene to their mother. On August 19, 1961, Gene married her. He loved Carol for almost 50 years as they energetically enjoyed being a dynamic couple and successful business partners.
Six years ago, Gene fired his investment firm after watching his portfolio decline in value under their watch and took on the task of managing it himself. His performance was better than that of most investment managers and he loved his newfound career of day-trading in his PJs.
Gene never stopped working, dreaming and loving.
Services: Visitation at KUTIS AFFTON CHAPEL, 10151 Gravois Rd., Wednesday, January 9, from 11:30 until funeral service at 12:30. Interment J.B. National Cemetery.