Eugene Sidney "Gene" Woodruff; 94, of Houston, TX passed peacefully at home the morning of July 5th, 2025 with family by his bedside.

Born April 29, 1931 in Flagstaff, AZ, he was the first of three children of Halbert E "Woody" Woodruff and Mary "Mamie" Bonheur Lowrey of Marble Canyon, Arizona, his father an Army Reserves officer and state agriculture agent at Fredonia Station near the recently completed Navajo Bridge. His maternal grandparents, David Crockett "Buck" Lowrey and Florence, were pioneers in the region, operating several local trading posts, a service station and establishing Marble Canyon Lodge just two miles up Highway 89 from the bridge, which is still in operation presently.  This remarkable corner of the Arizona Strip was home until 1933, when the young Woodruff family moved to Safford, Arizona.

Prior to the US involvement in World War II, Gene's father was activated for duty in the spring of 1941, prompting the family's relocation to Fort Benning, Georgia.  Major H.E. Woodruff deployed to the Philippines in September of 1941, Mamie, Gene, and his siblings Charlotte and David would spend the war years with the Woodruff family in Winston Co, Mississippi. Declared missing in action following the Japanese invasion, his father survived in the Philippine jungles and was repatriated after three harrowing years evading enemy combatants, roving gangs of local bandits, and anything else the jungle threw at him. LtCol Woodruff would medically retire as Director of Training at Ft Benning in 1945, returning to his agriculture agent position in Solomonville, Arizona upon separation, and the family was back to their familiar home in Safford.

Gene graduated from Safford High School in 1948, where he was a proud member of the football and swim teams. He studied at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff and worked summer jobs doing deliveries for Lindsey's Creamery and as a lifeguard at the community pool. It was there that he met Wanda Romine, the love of his life, while heroically rescuing her younger sister Linda from a near-drowning.

After a short courtship, they would marry in Lordsburg, New Mexico on November 25, 1950, the next year welcoming their first child, Robert Eugene "Bob," born in late August, while living in a one room garage apartment that Gene's father salvaged from a railyard and reconstructed on their property in Safford. Gene was back driving delivery trucks, this time for Safford Meat Packing, with a desire to get an engineering job with the military, he applied to the U.S. Air Force. He was denied due to a diagnosis of flat feet, an obstacle that would not slow his ambition.

In conversation with his uncle Robert Earl Woodruff, Jr a suggestion was made that he come to Houston to look for work, soon this small family would travel to Texas & Gene would find employment as a draftsman in the engineering department at Hahn & Clay Metal Fabricators. After clocking out from work, he would attend night school at the University of Houston, earning his master's degree in engineering. Times were good, the company was expanding & so was their family and over the next decade they would welcome three more children into the world. By 1967, they were building a new home in the Oak Forest neighborhood of NW Houston, the same one Gene and Wanda occupied until their retirements in 1994, marking over four decades of employment having risen through the ranks as Quality Control Engineer, Project Manager, Shop Superintendent, Production Manager, Vice President of Production and finishing as Senior Vice President of Hahn & Clay Heavy Industries, dutifully earning the respect of colleagues and clients alike over his decades of dedicated service.

In 1990, Gene and Wanda purchased a five-acre tract of land in Wimberly, TX, clearing the property by hand and moving into a two-room home they built themselves in 1994, then into their larger dream home constructed on the same land in 1996. They quickly established roots in the community, Gene working part time with Brookshire Brothers grocery store, as a volunteer engineer on the Hays County Road Board and the City of Wimberly on special projects, such as The Blue Hole Regional Park and the safety redesign of R-12 through the center of town.

He was a man of many passions. Gene collected stamps and coins, crafted and flew gas-powered model airplanes, coached Little League, led Boy Scout troops, and played on company softball and bowling teams. He enjoyed hunting, fishing, gardening, and was an ever-resourceful do-it-yourselfer, but it was in running that Gene discovered his true joy.  To address health concerns, he took up jogging in the 1970s before the sport was mainstream, eventually entering local 5Ks and 10Ks. At age 53, he ran his first Houston Marathon in 1984. One year later, he set a personal record at Houston and qualified and ran in the Boston Marathon, a feat few achieve. He went on to complete marathons in New York, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, San Antonio, Los Angeles, and beyond. He continued his training on the roads through the rolling hills of Hays County, competing in several Motorola Marathons in Austin and one last Houston Marathon at the age of 77, having set and held state records in the 65-69, 70-74 and 75-79 age groups for several years. Even after retiring from competition and the addition of a pacemaker in 2008, he routinely ran at least 3 miles daily.

After the loss of his wife Wanda due to complications from Leukemia in May of 2011, he later found companionship with Marva McCraw in 2015, departing Wimberley and relocating to New Braunfels, TX to share their lives together. He continued his commute to his job at Brookshire Brother's in Wimberley until suffering a stroke in September of 2017, after a little over 10 months of physical and speech therapy, Gene was back to regular activities and driving again, but Marva's health was suffering, and she would pass away in January of 2019, necessitating his last move to spend his remaining years back in Houston with his surviving children and with them, traveling across the country in his RV to visit family out of state, even during the COVID years.

Gene was preceded in death by his wife Wanda, his father, his mother and step-father, Maurice Fetters, mother-in-law Ann Nichols (Jack); brother David Woodruff; sister Charlotte Sandsness; brother-in-law Johnny Romine (Bonnie); sister-in-law, Linda Greenwell (Jackie); sister-in-law Patsy Williams (Jerry); brother-in-law Joe Romine; sons Robert and Kenneth Woodruff; grandson, Tanner Moffett;  granddaughter Candice Woodruff, nephews Brian and Sean Greenwell, nieces Crystal Angle, Kelly Knapp and Stephanie Romine.

He is survived by his son, Steven (Tammy); daughter Cheryl Moffett; grandchildren Aaron Woodruff (Jackie); Christina Querido (Lem); Glen Woodruff; Brian Woodruff (Stephanie); Kelley Burgess (Christopher); Kristin Murillo (Raul); Travis Moffett; and several great grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and extended family members who adored him.

The family wishes to express their gratitude to Gene's caregivers, Evie Lopez and for the last 3 years, Katherine Bingly, for their kindness, compassion and dedicated care of our beloved "Marathon Man."

In lieu of flowers, the family request that donations be made in Gene Woodruff's memory to the Kerr County Flood Relief Fund

https://www.communityfoundation.net/kerr-county-flood-relief-grants/