I have known Gene Mauk for
around 51 years. Knowing Gene for that length of time, I am bound to have been influenced
by him, especially when 96% of that time has been spent as an in-law. Some of
Gene inevitably rubbed off on me, and I believe that because of his impact, I am a
better man.
The great love he has for Jan,
his wife, and his four children, Cindy (Cynthia), Steve (Stephen), Rob
(Robert), and John (John) worked wonders in making me a better husband and
father.
Gene’s attention to detail
showed in restoring his beloved 1930 Ford Model A made me a better woodworker
on my various little projects and a better mechanic on our various vehicles.
Gene’s passion for hiking and
mountain climbing, and his focus on the many lists for these and other
pursuits, including seeing total eclipses, overnighting in all 50 states, and
others, inspire me to be aspirational. I’ve created a list based on the trifold,
“City of Glendale Trails and Fire Roads”, which I found in Gene’s office. I am
hiking them to honor my Father-in-law.
Jan and Gene both valued
education and were awarded college degrees. Jan demonstrated this by investing
in the PTA and serving on the board for several years in various capacities,
including as President. She also worked in libraries serving children at the
heart of education. Gene manifested his value of education in the drive for his
degree by working a full-time job and being a father while attaining his degree
from California State Los Angeles.
The effect was that all four of
their children attained four-year degrees. Rob earned a PhD in Molecular
Biology. Cindy received an AA at Glendale Junior College, then completed
Nursing School through Pasadena City College, and followed those up years later
with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, leading to her receiving master’s
degrees and a Doctorate in Psychology from Fuller Theological Seminary. All
three of Cindy’s and my children received degrees. I am thankful that Gene and
Jan set the bar high. They probably would have locked Cindy away from me had I
not earned my degree before we got married.
The Gene Mauk effect reached across
generations. He loved being a grandfather and getting involved whenever he
could with whatever his grandchildren and great-grandchildren were doing.
The Grand Effect:
From Ashley Cornelius:
List of
how I think grandpa has affected my life:
- love
of nature and outdoors
- love
of experiencing new places and learning about them
-
knowing the value of family
- being
responsible
(In these four bullet items, I found volumes of Gene’s effect
on my kids and their lives. I am grateful to him for the affection he showed us
all.)
From Trevor Mauk:
Anyone who knew my grandfather (Papa) would agree that his
sense of adventure and admiration of the world's beauty is contagious. I've
thought about a couple of ways he has affected me throughout my life, and how I
can carry on Papa's legacy through my own mindset and actions.
Ingenuity and Curiosity: I
recently asked Papa to confirm this story during one of my recent visits
because I find it incredible, especially through the lens of our modern
information era. When he was a teenager, Papa was passionate about astronomy
and set out to build a telescope. Using only books he checked out from his
local library, he constructed a large, fully functioning telescope; this
included machining various mirrors and lenses and repurposing industrial pipe
to act as the telescope body. Incredibly, though unsurprising considering
Papa's grit, he got it to work. This was the same telescope I viewed stars and
planets through in the La Crescenta backyard when I was a young boy.
I think this is a wonderful example of how Papa lived his
life with curiosity and the discipline to understand how the world works—a
burning desire to understand the beauty and complexity of the universe, and a
relentless determination to take a 'peek under the hood' at how it functioned.
I try to carry this same spirit as I move through life, whether it's
understanding how the latest car engine functions or how a snippet of code
powers a web app. He taught me there is joy in understanding the details of the
world.
Adventure and Beauty: Anyone
who knows (or even knows of) Papa will know he has an incredibly adventurous
spirit. I am grateful for the breathtaking hikes, camping, and summits he
pushed us to tackle during our winter and summer camping trips. I find more and
more of this in myself, especially as I grow older. I've begun to go on weekly
hikes, challenging myself to achieve new distance/elevation personal records
and seek out new beautiful places. This has allowed me to connect with the
beauty of the world and myself in unique ways that I'm doubtful I'd be able to
find within other areas of my life. I'm grateful for Papa's inspiration, which
has pushed me to seek out natural beauty and appreciate the details in my
environment.
I'd be hard-pressed not to mention how Papa kept this
adventurous spirit going up until the very, very end. Not everyone can say they
completed a 14-mile alpine hike with their grandfather in their 90s. Papa's
ability to carry this mental and physical strength late into life has
encouraged me to take care of myself so that I can do the same—and has made me
look forward to the later years in life knowing I can still find joy and
adventure in the outdoors with great company.
From Riley Mauk:
My grandfather, or "Poppy," as I would come to know
him during the first 28 years of my life, is nothing short of remarkable in
terms of the life he lived and the impact it had on me.
He was always there, from my earliest memories of celebrating
annual holidays and family birthdays at his house to going to my basketball
games and school activities. He never missed anything in the world. I am very
grateful for his presence throughout my life, as it instilled the importance of
family in me at a young age.
His sense of adventure runs in the family, and I witnessed it
firsthand from my early memories of backpacking in the Sierras to our desert
trips exploring old, abandoned ghost towns. I'm so fortunate that I was able to
share these experiences with my grandfather, like hiking along the PCT with him
in the Sierras and Cascades.
One of my fondest memories was when he stood at the trailhead
of Whitney Portal to congratulate me (and the rest of the team) on successfully
reaching the peak earlier that day.
My grandfather affected my life in a number of ways, most notably: the foundation and importance of family, his love of the Sierras, and the State of California, as well as the Los Angeles area, and the passion for traveling and exploring new places.
From Lauren Chambers:
My Grandpa, Gene Mauk, was
always a loving presence in my life. But as a child and growing up, I
always gravitated towards Nana. After Nana’s stroke and she was
living at Oak Park Healthcare Center, I spent many mornings or afternoons
visiting Nana. Sometimes the visits had numerous people there, and
sometimes it was just Grandpa and me. I got to know my Grandpa in a
whole new way and grew a deeper relationship with him. For me, this
was the bright silver lining of the dark cloud of my Nana’s stroke.
This relationship ultimately led to my daughter being named Becca
Gene. I hope the “Gene Mauk effect” will continue by passing down
their stories and acting in kind, loving, and thoughtful ways.
From Daniel White:
In the mountains and the night sky, in an
overture of classical music, I am with my Grandpa. Grandpa’s relationship with
these elements has forever affected mine.
By far, the most epic backpacking journey
of my life was a trip I took with just me and him - 75 miles of the PCT in 10
days, from Sonora Pass to Tuolumne Meadows. We all know of Grandpa’s meticulous
planning and tracking with lists, but what I remember most about that journey
was simply his joy of being in his element up in the Sierras. One day in
particular was a difficult hike, up the side of a deep valley, reaching the
apex, only to look across another valley we were to traverse before dark. Every
time I reached a peak, I would wait for a few minutes for him to catch up, and
every time he caught up, a huge grin from ear to ear, showing both his
satisfaction of overcoming and pure wonderment at nature’s marvel. Another day,
while we took our lunch break, we decided we would try to camp out by a lake a
little off the trail instead of the designated campsite. We had so much fun
just locating this lake we found on the map. We reached the point in the trail
where we calculated the lake to be, got our compasses out, and headed directly
into the dense forest. And we ran right into it, it turned out to be little
more than a pond, but he took so much delight in our successful diversion from
the plan and finding a place a little less travelled.
He also affected me in my appreciation of
the sky. As you can imagine, we spent a fair amount of time looking up at the
cosmos on our trips while we sat by our humble campfires and pondered our place
in the universe. I also admired his dedication in building his own telescope
and the way he took great pleasure in capturing views of other worlds so far
away. I often think about those times still, when I stargaze today.
I also have a greater appreciation for
classical music because of Grandpa. We would listen to classical music on our
long drives to the trailheads. I then started mixing some into my rotation of
alternative, grunge, punk, and ska. He would sometimes test me if I knew the
composer of a song that came on and he would look so full of pride when I would
get one right occasionally. I remember he asked the question at a family party
one time, and I was the only one who got it right - Vivaldi, if memory serves me right - and I felt a great sense of pride as I saw how happy Grandpa was
that I had gotten it right.
So no big thing, Grandpa only affected me
by teaching me to appreciate the mountains, the sky, and the sound of music.
