Eugene Thommen Dies October 9

Euene H. Thommen

Eugene H. “Gene” Thommen Jr. of Mico, Texas, died October 9, 2019, after a brief hospital stay. He was 82.

Mr. Thommen was born April 11, 1937, in Sag Harbor, the son of the late Eugene H. Thommen and Arlene Daniels Morgan. On June 21, 1981, he married the former Shirley M. Bonesteel in Southampton.

After graduating from East Hampton High School in 1955, he joined the United States Navy and served as an aviation electronics technician. He later worked for Grumman Aerospace Corporation, on both the Apollo 11 Lunar Mission and the F-14 “Tomcat” program, before becoming a Suffolk County deputy sheriff.

In 1997, he and his wife, “Shyrl,” retired to Bedford, Virginia, where they were active with their many friends at the Morgans Baptist Church, and he was able to fulfill his passion for designing and building model train stations. In 2013, they moved to Mico to spend their remaining years with family.

In addition to his parents, Mr. Thommen is preceded in death by his wife; his brothers, Arthur Thommen and James Thommen; and his sisters, Joyce Flanagan and Diane Pfost.

He is survived by daughters, Merrilee Jones and Lorrilee Gorman, both of Florida, and Jennifer Thommen of Tennesee; sons, Robert Thommen and Daniel Connors, both of Florida; a step-daughter, Patti Finch of Texas; a stepson, Frederick “Jim” Finch of Mico; and daughter-in-law, Patricia Finch of Mico; sisters, Denise Morgan Scott of East Hampton and Darlene Liquore of New Jersey; a sister-in-law, Carole Thommen of Virginia; and numerous nieces, nephews, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, October 26, at 1 p.m. at the Tondre-Guinn Funeral Home in Castroville, Texas. Interment at a later date will be at Oakland Cemetery in Sag Harbor. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Tondre-Guinn Funeral Home; tondre-guinn.com.

Memorial donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Research Foundation and the Fisher House Foundation.