Gene Showalter
Niantic — Gene Edwin Showalter, 84, of Niantic, and Bonita Springs, Fla., entered eternal peace on July 26, 2018, with family by his side.
Gene was born on June 15, 1934, in Hollidaysburg, Pa., the only child of Edwin Thomas Showalter and Alma Elizibeth McWade Showalter.
Gene graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a BS in civil engineering. After serving four years in the U.S. Air Force, he then took employment at General Dynamics Electric Boat Division in the Fleet Ballistic Missile Weapons Department as a Polaris submarine weapons system installation and test engineer. During his career, he spent three years in the United Kingdom as an adviser to the British Admiralty and the Vickers Armstrong Shipbuilders for the construction and testing of the British navy’s first submarine capable of firing Polaris missiles. His final years at Electric Boat were involved with the Trident Submarine Program as chief of configuration management, and then working in logistics support of Trident submarines before retiring in 1996.
On Oct. 25, 1958, he married Helen Louise Aaron Showalter. They celebrated 57 years together before her passing in 2015.
Gene was a resident of East Lyme since 1960 and served on various town boards and commissions and as chairman of the Planning Commission. Gene was an avid golfer and also enjoyed following the Red Sox and Pirates baseball teams and the UConn men’s and women’s basketball teams. He loved traveling with his wife and spending time at their residence in Florida. Gene treasured time spent with family and was especially proud of his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He is survived by his three children and their spouses, Jennifer Charron and her husband Daniel of Norwich, David Showalter and his wife Carole of East Lyme, and Kara Breen and her husband Robert of Mississauga, Canada. He was a loving grandfather and is survived by his grandchildren, Damian Charron and his wife Angie, Nathan Charron and his wife Jill, Jacob Charron and his wife Leigh, Eva Charron Acosta and her husband Ryan, Sarah Gene Showalter and her fiancé Colin McGoodwin, Sandra Showalter, William Breen, Douglas Breen, Helen Breen, and six great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his sisters-in-law, Jane Hatch and her husband Ted, and Beth Ekner and her husband Jan, along with their families.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 9, at St. Agnes Church, 22 Haigh Ave., Niantic. Interment will follow in Union Cemetery with full military honors. There are no calling hours. Thomas L. Neilan & Sons East Lyme Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to The Center for Hospice Care of Southeastern Connecticut, 227 Dunham St., Norwich, CT 06360 or the Visiting Nurses Association of Southeastern Connecticut, 403 North Frontage Road, Waterford, CT 06385. The family wishes to thank both of these agencies for their dedication and support.