Gene Edward Guetzko

Gene Edward Guetzko, 85, 1116 Eastmoor Drive, died Thursday, Aprll 22, 2010 at Heritage Care Center, Mason City, with his family by his side.
A Celebration of his Life will be held at Major-Erickson Funeral Home, Mason City, on Monday, April 26 from 4-7 pm and on Tuesday, April 27, at the Clifton-Murdoch Funeral Home in Earlville, Iowa from 1- 2:30 pm. Burial services will be conducted at Fairview Cemetery in Earlville at 3:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to the Gene and Isabel Guetzko Scholarship Fund, which will be established for Mason City students pursuing a degree in Engineering, or to Hospice of North Iowa.
Gene was born in Manchester, Iowa, the first of four children of Edward and Margie (Meader) Guetzko on September 1, 1924, his fathers birthday. He graduated from Earlville High School in 1942.
Gene enlisted in the U.S. Navy in the spring of 1943 and became a dive bomber pilot in Air Group #75, assigned aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Franklin D. Roosevelt, going on inactive status in November, 1945. He pursued his education at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, and graduated in 1949 with a BS degree in Civil Engineering, with Distinction. Elected to Chi Epsilon and Tau Beta Pi, he was voted the outstanding senior civil engineering graduate in Iowa that year. He married the love of his life, L. Isabel Clifton, on November 28, 1946 with whom he would have three children and spend the next 56 years of married life. Gene began his career with Harrington & Cortelyou in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1949, and worked with the firm until 1953, taking four years away to assist with his fathers business, Guetzko Construction in Earlville. From 1957-1960, he returned as the resident engineer for the Tule Lake Lift Bridge Project in Corpus Christi, Texas, and worked for the firm in Kansas City until late 1966. He then moved the family to Mason City, where he was Chief Structural Engineer with Wallace, Holland, Kastler and Schmitz, working with the Iowa D.O.T. and designing bridge projects throughout the Midwest, until his retirement in 1994. Of his many interests, flying was closest to his heart, and he flew private planes for over 25 years in connection with his job as a consulting engineer. He was a member of Mason City Country Club, and loved playing golf with his friends and family. Gene pursued many hobbies over the years, and he and Isabel enjoyed many trips together, traveling west for skiing and riding their Gold Wing through the mountains. After retirement, they enjoyed winters golfing as Winter Texans. Gene was the consummate engineer and a skilled repairman. He greatly enjoyed fixing, upgrading and/or modifying anything mechanical, wooden or electrical, whether it needed it or not. Most items in their home were recipients of some form of "Guetzko Modification", sometimes morphing them into something barely recognizable from the original. Many of those GMs have stories attached, which his family will treasure and enjoy repeating for years to come.
Left to cherish his memory are his children: Carolyn (Paul) Gold and David (Patti) Guetzko, all of Mason City; and Gary (Karen) Guetzko, of Dubuque; eight grandchildren: Adam (Shannon) Gold, Mason City; Erin Gold, Ankeny; Dr. Lisa Guetzko and husband Will Woolstencroft, Hemet, CA; Matt Guetzko, Bloomington, MN; Mark Guetzko, Bloomington, MN; Megan Guetzko, Ann Arbor, MI; Lauren Guetzko and Nathan Guetzko, Ames, IA; two great-grandchildren: Alex and Jakob Gold, Mason City; sisters: Janice Fowler, Davenport, IA; Marilyn (Vern) Rosenbery, Galena, IL; special friend, Kay Sloan, and many nieces, nephews, family members and treasured friends.
He was preceded in death by his wife Isabel, father Edward, mother Margie, and brother Buck.