Lewis 'Gene' Hastings

Danville - Lewis E. “Gene” Hastings was born on January 21, 1934 and left this earth for heaven on January 27, 2015. God gave him a very full and enriching 81 years of life. Gene was the son of Charles and Vivian Cronkhite, who both preceded him in death. Also preceding him in death were two wives; Betty, to whom he was married 10 years, and Mary, to whom he was married a total of 43 years. Gene and Mary lost their first child, Michael, when he was three months old. Surviving Gene was a family who loved him very much. He and Mary had three surviving children; Linda Scott and her husband Greg, Dave Hastings and his wife Susan, and Scott Hastings and his wife Kelly. From those children there are seven grandchildren; Joshua Copas and his wife Kayla, Jennifer Jones and her husband Andy, Kyle Hastings and his wife Hannah, Kirk Hastings and his wife Ameillia, Koby Hastings, Alex Hastings, and Jory Gosnell and her husband William. From these grandchildren there are five great-grandchildren; Gage, Gatlin, Delilah, Daphne, and Kayden. A sixth great-grandchild is expected in March of this year. Gene is also survived by a sister, Sandra, and several nieces and nephews. In 1951 Gene graduated from Danville High School and shortly thereafter joined the United States Air Force during the Korean War conflict. He went to boot camp at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, then was stationed at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver to become a radar specialist for the F94C aircraft. As Gene would often say, “Our job was to keep the Communists out of our airspace, and if they tried to enter our airspace my radar was going to help shoot their butts out of the sky.” Much of the testing of this new radar system was conducted at Cape Cod at the Otis Air Force Base. Gene was very humbled and proud of his service to our country and received an honorable discharge as an airman first class. After his military service Gene went to work at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Danville where he was a nursing assistant for eight years. He used that job as an opportunity to wait for his real passion as a master electrician in the maintenance department of the VA. All who ever worked with him admired his meticulous attention to detail in his job. He served in this capacity for 33 years until his retirement in 1991. Gene had many passions throughout life, most of which he shared with his family and his many friends. In earlier years he was an avid fisherman, on the bank waiting on the big catfish or in the boat hoping for the largemouth bass. He was a legend at card playing, amazing friends with his tricks, especially the famous “Little Joe.” His poker buddies would bemoan him winning their money, of which the earnings usually paid for his entire year of golf memberships at local courses. Speaking of golf, few people in the world can ever say they had a hole-in-one. Gene had four! He was perennially one the best players at the Veterans Hospital Course, almost always winning the employee league he started and organized, as well as representing the course at annual interclub contests between local courses. But of all the golf accolades, his most proud was the thousands of hours spent on the course with his father and two sons. As Scott so aptly puts it, “The man could hit a flop shot with any club in the bag.” On a cold winter evening, just after Christmas in 2006, Gene gave his life to Jesus Christ. He and his father were baptized together that night. Since then Gene always believed that his hope of eternity rested in the forgiveness of Jesus. He now enjoys that gift. Gene was a member of the Second Church of Christ in Danville and the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of the State of Illinois. The family would like to thank the staff at Horizon Bay of Louisville who cared for Gene in these past seven months, and the fantastic staff of the Palliative Care Ward of Baptist Hospital East, especially Dr. Anderson and our wonderful nurse, Justin. Memorials may be made to Baptist Health Foundation - Palliative Care Fund, 4000 Kresge Way, Louisville, KY, 40207-9897. A celebration of life will be held on Saturday January 31, 2015 at 1 p.m., at Sunset Funeral Home and Cremation Center, a life celebration home in Danville. Burial will follow at Sunset Memorial Park. A visitation will be held Friday January 30, 2015 from 4 - 8 p.m. also at Sunset Funeral Home. Please join Genes family and friends in sharing pictures, videos, and memories on his tribute wall at www.sunsetfuneralhome.com.