Eugene Pruett

Eugene Pruett’s Remembrance Obituary: Nov. 24th 1936 – Jan.3rd, 2025

In loving memory of our dad, Gene Pruett, who was one of the hardest working, resilient, and self-reliant men that I have ever known. He had a very rough start to life,but was extremely fortunate to be adopted within his family by the loving, wonderful, Pruett family. So, our dad had many siblings that he grew up with and was close to, especially his brothers John and Bob who lived in Illinois many years. Our dad started working toward early manhood by volunteering to enlist in the army when he was seventeen years old. Of course, this could only be done with his parent’s written consent. Our dad and mom met before this around the age of 16 at a roller-skating rink and started dating. During his time in the army, my dad dated my mom when he came home for leave. She wouldn’t commit to going steady because he was stationed in Germany. Shortly after serving his army term, he proposed to my mom and they got married. Soon after that, they bought and ran a pizza place in Brighton Park, IL and they named it Geno’s Pizza. Our dad also worked a full-time job, so my mom had a lot on her plate. Due to subsequently having two small children, Danny and Tommy, early in their marriage, they sold the pizza place and bought a house. Eight years later, my brother Robert was born. During this time of owning their first house, our dad became a person who learned to fix most things in the house, which was extremely helpful, since they lived paycheck to paycheck and couldn’t afford to hire someone to do home repairs. I admired that skill that he continued to develop his whole life. After our dad’s second open heart surgery, he and my mom decided to buy a Pub in 1983 and they renamed it Durbin’s, which was his mom’s maiden name. It still exists today in Burbank, IL. Our mom worked a full-time job and worked at the pub on a part-time basis while our dad ran the pub. In 1998 they sold Durbin’s Pub. Our parents and brother Danny retired from their jobs and moved to an adult age 55+ community in Leesburg, FL, called The Royal Highlands. Early on, in their retirement in Florida, my dad was content just being a home body, but my mom was a social butterfly. So, my dad always had new people to meet, whether he wanted to or not. Actually, I think that he enjoyed it too, but my mom was always the initiator. Our brother Danny lived with them his whole life and adapted to the country club living exceedingly well in Florida. However, on May 31st, 2022, after living in Florida for twenty-three years, our parents and Danny moved to Alabama, so they could be close to my brother Robert and still enjoy a warmer climate than Illinois. At that point in their lives, they needed help and Robert and Diane were very willing and gracious to help them in many areas of life. Throughout our lives, my two brothers and I knew our dad as a man of few words, but we all knew that he loved us very much! Yes, I did say a man of few words, that is, unless we were playing card games or any other games with him. Then, he often had much to say, especially when he was losing, lol. One of the biggest gifts my dad gave me, was the way he loved my mom. They had an excellent marriage and I could see that they loved each other very much and they almost always got along quite well. Our dad did, however, push the boundaries at times, well, because he was a bit of a troublemaker. On more than a couple of occasions, he brought home a puppy, and my mom didn’t like dogs very much. On one such occasion, my mom told my dad that “if that puppy isn’t gone by the time I get home from work, I will leave. It’s me or that puppy.” Needless to say, mom didn’t leave, and neither did the puppy. Our mom was the one in their marriage that had to be flexible. However, both of my parents were very strong-willed, especially when it came to getting things done at home. So, our parents would sometimes disagree on how to go about it. When this happened, many times they would call each other “Supervisor,” because they both liked to call the shots. So, it made life very interesting at home as a child. They both had a good sense of humor with each other too! When one of them was feeling and talking a little rambunctiously, and they both wanted to be the “Supervisor,” the other one would say to me, with a pointed finger, “see and you thought it was easy.” Even though they both had supervisor type personalities, they worked well together and did many home projects together that most couples would avoid like the plague. For example, I witnessed them putting up wallpaper many times at home and they worked very well together with almost everything they did. They were super compatible. They did make their marriage look easy, but I saw them go through some very difficult times together, and they always seemed to come out of it stronger. They taught me that good marriage, that may look easy, still take continual hard work, with plenty of compromise, patience, kindness, forgiveness, compassion, love, and respect. Even though our dad and mom had many health issues, they hardly ever complained. My dad was no stranger to doctors, hospitals, and heart surgeries in his mid-life and my mom was no stranger to health issues later in her life with double knee and double hip replacements. My dad started much earlier in his life with health problems than my mom. He had his first triple bypass open heart surgery at the age of 47, another one at age 52, and the last bypass surgery at age 56. He also had many other heart procedures after those three major surgeries including a pacemaker and defibrillator. Our parents were married 65 years. As I had mentioned earlier, our dad was a tough, resilient man, and he also had a very strong will. How he outlived my brother Danny and my mom, we will never know. We would just say “Dad is like a cat because he has nine lives!” I am glad the Lord kept him around for a long time. In his later years, I got to spend more time with him one on one, especially after my brother and mom passed away. It was very good for us to have that time together. After my brother Danny and mom passed away, our dad sold his house in Alabama and moved in with my brother Robert and my sister-in-law Diane. So, anytime I wanted to visit my dad, I would be able to stay at Robert and Diane’s house. They have a five-bedroom house, so I always had a room to stay. I am very thankful to them. I will never forget his last two birthdays since I got to spend time celebrating them with him. It was wonderful to see him smile a little bit, especially after he had lost so much. It meant a lot to me. Throughout my dad’s later years, I spoke to him quite a bit about accepting Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, but he was reluctant. However, in one of our last conversations, when he was in the ICU, I asked him, “dad, will you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?” He shocked me by saying yes, I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and he repeated it two more times! It put a lot of joy in my heart during one of the saddest times of my life. I really believe that the Lord gave my dad plenty of extra time to become a believer and to be given the gift of salvation. It was the best ending that I could have ever asked for! God is patient, kind, gracious, and merciful. Thanks and praise be to God!

Eugene Pruett, the adopted son of the late Paul and Hazel Pruett; loving husband to his late wife Marie- married November 2, 1957; dedicated father to his late son Danny, Tom (daughter in law Amy), Granddaughters: Mandy, Jenny {Great Granddaughter Soleia}, and Mya Foelske; Robert (Daughter in law Diane) Grandsons: the late Bobby Pruett, John Pruett (Megan), {Great Granddaughters {Hadley and Harper}; and Andy; Brother to: the late Betty Tatoris (the late George), the late Genevieve Boledovich (the late Frank), the late Paul Pruett (Rosemary), the late John Pruett, Bob Pruett, and Richard Pruett (Sandy), and many nieces and nephews.

The Memorial Service for Gene, Marie, & Danny Pruett is on Saturday 4/5/2025 at 1:00 p.m. at The Village Christian Church located at 8965 Bell Rd. Minooka, IL 60447

Please RSVP only if you are planning to attend to Tom Pruett by text to 630-854-9903 or email to tgpruett@outlook.com