With help from several people, I’ve been able to piece together the following details and stories about Gene. Most helpful was Gene’s daughter Patty, who shared excerpts of her dad’s memoirs which she wrote from conversations with him during the last few years of his life. I also got help from Mike King, Dave Wilkes, Rodger Bland, and Dennis Madden. If you have a personal remembrance about Gene, you can post it on the Dudley-Hoffman Mortuary Website, under Memories and Condolences for Gene Lewis.
Gene’s Biography
Gene Lewis, the first Executive Director of ATRA, passed away at the age of 97 on March 25, 2024. He was born at home on August 27, 1926, in Pierson, Iowa and was the third child of Maude and Myron Lewis. Longevity runs in the family beginning with his grandmother, Grace living to age 100. Gene’s dad, a self-employed blacksmith lived to the age of 99, and his mom, a homemaker and teacher lived to 97.
It didn’t take Gene long to realize that he didn’t want to follow in his father’s footsteps as a blacksmith. Instead, according to those who knew him well, Gene became quite a wordsmith, and he plied that skill in both the spoken and written word.
After high school, Gene attended AIB (American Institute of Business) where he met the love of his life, and married Garnet Mae Roberts. The couple remained married until Garnet’s death in 2006. They had 4 children: Deborah, Michael (now deceased), Patricia, and Marilee.
During World War II, Gene enlisted in the Navy. He was in Top Secret Naval Radio Intelligence, running code-machines while stationed in Guam. He recalled that other than the 5-day boat trip and plane ride in the tail-bubble of a seaplane to get there, he felt like he was on vacation every day. (He had a way of seeing things in a positive light.)
After the war, Gene became a territorial sales rep for Standard Oil Company. He wasn’t crazy about traveling the large territory and had grown weary of the Iowa living style. So, he moved the family to Southern California in 1954.
Not wanting to continue in the oil business, he found success selling engine products for the Thomas Engine Corporation in Pasadena. About 8 years later, in 1963, he went to work for Steve’s Transmissions in the San Fernando Valley.
Steve’s Transmissions is where Gene found his stride, and met his new lifelong friend and business partner, Mike King, marking the beginning of Gene’s legacy journey.
In 1965, Gene and Mike moved to Ventura, California, to start Trans-King Transmissions. Trans-King grew into a chain of shops located in coastal towns from San Clemente to San Luis Obispo.
While they remained partners, Mike’s focus was on running Trans-King, and Gene immersed himself into ATRA, becoming the association’s first Executive Director.
Memories About Gene
Mike King shared several stories with me about his adventures and misadventures with Gene. Here are two of them.
“In 1965, Gene and I bought homes that were literally side by side just a few blocks from Trans-King in Ventura, California. I remember that we each scraped together $4,000. We purchased our houses with $500 down, and another $500 for curtains and such. The rest went into starting the shop.
“Of course, that money didn’t last long, but thanks to some understanding suppliers granting us extended terms on parts, we finally made it work. (We owed them for years.)
“We were also involved with ATRA, which was started in 1954 by Craig Baugus up in the Bay Area. It was not very well organized, primarily made up of some Northern and Southern California shops divided into two chapters, and I was the SoCal President.
“Anyhow, around 1968, Craig wanted to retire, so Gene and I went up to San Francisco to get all the paperwork, and we set up an ATRA office upstairs in our shop.
“The short version of the transition was that there was an election, and Gene was nearly unanimously elected to be the Executive Director with no salary for the first year. We also created a Board of Directors, and I was elected as the Chairman. Just like that the modern era of ATRA was born.
“At that point, Gene worked fulltime for ATRA, and I ran Trans-King. He was traveling all over North America signing up members, and we grew quickly. On the strength of the ‘Golden Rule Warranty’ program and Gene’s drive and salesmanship, we went from around 300 to over 2,000 shops in about a year!”
“Gene eventually got paid and the association grew into a viable non-profit organization under his leadership. He served as the Executive Director until he retired in 1988.
King wanted to share this funny story about a fishing trip he took with Gene and Mike Lee.
“We flew down to Baja for a game fishing trip, hoping to hook into a Marlin. We shared one pole and took turns (twenty-minute shifts) sitting in the chair, manning the pole. Gene was in the chair when we hooked a giant Marlin. Gene, not being a very large man, was really struggling, and Mike Lee wanted to jump in to take over. Gene shouted him away saying ‘This is my fish ***!” Gene finally landed it and just to rub it in, he had it stuffed and mounted it where Mike Lee had to see it almost every day. That was Gene, and it was all in fun.”
Gene’s daughter, Patty offered these memories, which she included in Gene’s memoirs.
“After Mom passed in 2006, Dad spent several years saying ‘no’ to many women friends.
However, a family friend Bob Weaver passed a few years after Mom. Bob and Pat Weaver were family friends and business associates of Mom and Dad and the Kings ever since we moved to Ventura in the 1960s. Our families all grew up together.
When Bob passed, we all went to his memorial. About 7 months after Bob’s memorial, Dad and Pat started conversing by phone, and ultimately, a romance bloomed. The rest is history. To this day, Pat has been a wonderful wife for Dad and stepmom to us all!”
Patty added the following about Gene’s vision for ATRA, “Gene had a vision that ATRA would become a technical publishing and training company. Of course, Gene’s vision became reality. The following is an edited excerpt from Gene’s memoirs. I’m going to preserve some of his colorful persona.”
Gene: “We’re going to take engineers’ language and convert it to mechanics language… Has to be simple, most mechanics can’t spell diddly.
“Fortunately, we quickly discovered two people that could understand how to read oil circuitry, how to determine what in the transmission is automatic, and what is not, so it’s easy to deal with. I met two geniuses along the way, one was Mike King, and the other was Gil Younger.
“Let me tell you why Gil made such an impression on me. At one point he was working with us at Steve’s Transmissions. He was a phony baloney, but he looked at a problem that existed and said, ‘I can fix that. I can con and get a patent on the Buick front pump plate, out of stainless steel, so hard that nothing can grind that plate apart…’ Gil Younger got a patent on that, front pump plate. After that everything Gil Younger does has the Midas touch.”
Current President of the ATRA Board of Directors, Dave Wilkes got to know Gene when he worked at Trans- King. “Gene was a voracious writer, and he could type faster than he could talk. I loved getting his emails. Gene had a unique perspective on current events and issues, and he’d frequently share his views in fun, entertaining emails. Gene was a wonderful guy.”
The Managing Editor of GEARS Magazine, Rodger Bland observed, “Gene made an impression on everybody he met, and his ‘red socks’ were his trademark.”
Dennis Madden, ATRA’s CEO Emeritus, reflected, “I was a tech guy at ATRA when I met Gene, so I didn’t know him well. But he was fun to be around and made great corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick’s Day. Later, as the CEO of ATRA, I thought about and appreciated Gene’s contributions that live on to make ATRA such a wonderful association. Thank you, Gene.”
It’s been said that the secret to living a fulfilling, successful life is found in accomplishing four things:
- To Live – taking care of the physical needs of food, shelter, and creature comforts.
- To Love – loving and being loved and having fulfilling relationships with others.
- To Learn – always learning, growing, finding new perspectives, and gaining new skills.
- To Leave a Legacy – leaving evidence of your life that will live on after you’re gone.
“After speaking with people who knew Gene, there’s little doubt whether Gene succeeded in living, loving, learning, and leaving a legacy. Thank you, Gene, for your tireless dedication to our industry.” – Thom Tschetter
