Eugene "Gene" Donald Carlos

Eugene “Gene” Donald Carlos, age 97, passed from this life into the arms of his Savior, Jesus Christ, on May 20, 2021, at his home in Franktown, Colorado. Gene was born on April 16, 1924, in Houma, Louisiana, to Ambrose J. Carlos and Grace Smith Carlos.

As World War II raged in Europe and the Pacific, Gene enlisted in the US Army Air Corps (now the US Air Force) in November 1942 after completing high school. He participated in numerous battles and campaigns including Rome Arno, Northern Apennines, Po Valley, Southern France, Northern France, Rhineland, and the Balkans. He achieved the rank of Sergeant before requesting a transfer from his mostly clerical role to serve a more hands-on support role loading bombs and servicing the 50-caliber machine guns on the bombers. He did so even though it meant sacrificing his rank.

With the end of the war in 1945, Gene received an honorable discharge from the Army, and he returned home to support his mother while his older brother headed to college first. By 1949, his turn for college arrived, and he attended Southwestern Louisiana Institute (now Univeristy of Louisiana at Lafayette) earning his Bachelor of Science degree in Physics in 1953.  The majority of his professional career was spent as a Rocket Propulsion Engineer with several of the major defense contractors at the time.

In his younger days, Gene had a passion for playing chess, tennis, and golf. He also developed and pursued an interest in genealogy. A devoted father, he loved his children above all else. His final years were spent in Franktown, Colorado, where he lived with his daughter, Kim, and her husband.

Preceeding him in death were his parents, and his brother, Russell M. Carlos.

Gene is survived by his son, Maj. Mark Carlos, USAF Retired and wife, Col. Josephine Almonte Carlos, USAF Retired, of Ormond Beach, Florida; daughter Kimberly Smith and husband, Bernard Smith, of Franktown, Colorado; and daughter Debra Hobell of Monument, Colorado. Extended family include grandson Kristopher Carlos and his wife, Doreen Koh Carlos, of San Jose, California; and first cousins Daniel Smith and his wife, Dianne, of Poplarville, Mississippi, and David Smith  of Bogalusa, Louisiana.

After cremation, his ashes will be interred at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver, Colorado, later this summer.

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