Eugene Metler

Eugene Henry Metler was born on November 12, 1936, to Everett E. and Elenora Metler in Lakeview, Oregon. The next year, the family moved to Klamath Falls, Oregon where Eugene’s father and his uncles started a lumber business known as Metler Brothers. Gene was educated in the Klamath Falls public schools and graduated from high school in 1954. He had a great love for baseball which started when Gene worked as a bat boy for the Klamath Gems Baseball Park from the age of 10 till he was 13. He played baseball throughout his school years.

In 1950, Gene’s father bought a 325-acre farm 18 miles East of Klamath Falls. Gene learned all aspects of farming there. At 16, he worked at his father’s lumber mill. He continued working at the farm and lumber mill throughout high school.

Gene began his college career the summer of 1954 when he attended Brigham Young University. In the spring of 1955, he played baseball with the freshman team there.

After 2 years at BYU, Gene accepted a mission call from the Church of Jesus Christ of

Latter-Day Saints to serve in the Spanish American Mission from December 1956 through June 1959. Eugene was to work with the Spanish speaking people in Texas and New Mexico. He quickly became fluent in the Spanish language. He spent the last 13 months in the Dallas-Fort Worth area where he served as district leader.

After his mission, Gene continued at BYU and graduated in 1961 majoring in Spanish with a business minor. After his graduation, he attended graduate school at the American Institute for Foreign Trade, known as Thunderbird, in Glendale, Arizona. He graduated with a Master’s of Foreign Trade and was the Valedictorian of Portuguese studies.

On August 28, 1963, Gene married the love of his life, Carolyn Smith of Ashland, Oregon. They were married in the Idaho Falls Idaho Temple. After their marriage, they resided in Klamath Falls where Gene worked for Metler Brothers for 4 years. In August 1967, Gene and Carolyn moved to Provo, Utah to manage an apartment complex he and his father had built 3 years earlier. He and his father also built a 2nd apartment complex at Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho.

Gene was one of the founders of the Utah Valley Apartment Association, served as board member of the Utah Apartment Association in Salt Lake City, and served on the BYU housing adjustment board. Between 1970 and 2001, he owned a successful apartment management business in the Provo area and was a licensed real estate broker.

Gene loved outdoor activities. He enjoyed hunting and fishing with his family around the state of Utah. He coached little league baseball and basketball. He refereed high school and junior college basketball for several years. Gene loved the family cabin at Lake of the Woods, Oregon and traveled there each summer. He enjoyed all kinds of water sports and grew up loving the mountains of Oregon.

Eugene was very involved in serving in the community. He served in several bishoprics in the

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, as Bishop of the Orem 22nd Ward, and on the

Stake High Council. He enjoyed being assigned to oversee youth and their activities. Gene was actively involved with his father in the Provo Kiwanis Club where he served on the Board of Directors and as President. He also served as part of the Board of Adjustments for the Planning Committee in the city of Orem.

Gene found real happiness in watching each of his 6 children achieve their potential in their adult life. His greatest joy came from knowing that his family loves their Heavenly Father and that they are living their life so they can be a forever family.

Eugene is survived by his loving wife, Carolyn; his brother Terry D. Metler (Jane); his children Timothy E. (Suzanne), Teri Lynn Davis (Jacob), Steven W. (Robyn), Robert G. (Ann), Jeffery C. (Colin), Jerilyn Anderson (Bryan) along with 25 grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren on the way. He is preceded in death by his parents and sister, Marylyn Pancheri of Howe, Idaho.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, July 8, 2023, at 11:00 a.m. at the Hobble Creek 16th Ward LDS Chapel located at 495 South Canyon Road in Springville, with a viewing held that morning from 9:00 – 10:30 a.m. prior to the services.  Burial will be in the Springville Evergreen Cemetery.  Condolences for the family may be expressed on this page.

For those unable to attend the services they will be streamed starting at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 8th via Zoom at the following link: https://zoom.us/j/97897364035?pwd=YktQMXJUaU8xSnRHLzdSU1liY0duQT09

Meeting ID: 978 9736 4035

Passcode: 415092

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