A Life Well Lived . . .

Gene Leichner was born in Spring Grove, IN and spent his early life in Champaign, IL with his parents, Howard and Virginia, and younger brother, Floyd.  He studied electrical engineering at the University of Illinois where he received his PhD in 1958.  While a graduate student he began a lifelong affair with computers, beginning with Ordvac and Illiac I, two of the earliest computers.  Gene helped develop and maintain the Illiac and also used it to solve his homework problems, an innovation at the time.

It was in the computer lab at the University of Illinois that Gene first laid eyes on his future wife, Jeannine Timko.  Gene and Jeannine were married in 1959 and spent the early years of their marriage in the Champaign-Urbana area.  They had two children, Stephanie and Greg.  At that time Gene worked part-time for his dad, taught at the University of Illinois and worked on instrumentation for the Biophysics Lab.

In 1971 Gene felt the urge to move to California and the family made their home in Los Altos.  Gene worked at RCA on computer-aided instruction and then spent 13 years at Systems Control working on electric power systems.  After leaving Systems Control he worked at EPIC where he spent 8 wonderful months in Switzerland.  His last job was with his friend, David Splawn.

In his middle years Gene loved to build and fly model gliders.  He also loved redwood trees and the mountains and was always ready to go to Big Basin or Yosemite.

Gene volunteered at Downtown College Prep for several years coaching the robot team.  He also helped with the robotics program at Saratoga High school.

For the last three years he was blessed with a unique opportunity – working as a volunteer aide in the Introduction to Engineering Program at Saratoga High School.  He was an inspiration to the students and a mentor to Audrey Warmuth.

Gene is survived by his wife of 57 years, Jeannine Leichner; their two children, Stephanie (husband Rick) Janowski and Greg (wife Kim) Leichner and his two grandchildren, Kayla (husband Josh) Brockett and Trevor Leichner.

Family and Friends are invited to a Vigil service 7:00 PM Wednesday, April 5th at Alameda Family Funeral Home, Saratoga.
A Funeral Mass will be held Thursday, April 6th at 10:00 AM, Sacred Heart Parish in Saratoga with a reception to follow also at Sacred Heart.