Gene Drake passed away Monday, August 27, 2018 at Quail Corner Memory Care Center in Winnemucca, NV at 84 years old.
He was born in Kalamazoo, MI on July 25, 1934 to Francis Drake and Maleta Boone (Gridley). Gene was in the Army Reserve serving in Iceland during the Korean War for three years before being honorably discharged.
He received the National Defense Service Metal. He moved to Long Beach, California where he was introduced to the love of his life, Pearl Bachman, by his mother. There they started a family and he worked for Mobil Oil Corp while obtaining an Associate degree in Business at Long Beach City College. In 1972, they moved to Reno, NV to open their own fuel business.
There he was part of the dirt motorcycle group the Desert Rats. After 5 years they wanted to raise their kids in a more rural area and Winnemucca was where they decided to be. They bought a local service station and also purchased a bulk fuel plant which they named Sage Petroleum Products. Gene enjoyed the outdoors and was an avid bird hunter.
He was also one of the founding members of the Nevada Chukar Foundation. Another of his passions was training and running hunting dogs in Bird Dog competitions. He owned several champion dogs throughout the years.
He is preceded in death by his wife Pearl Drake, his mother Maleta “Skip” Boone, his brother Charles Drake and his father Francis Drake.
He is survived by his son, Daniel Drake of Portland, OR, his daughter Valerie Drake (Shawn) of Winnemucca, NV and his granddaughter Katelyn Dixon of Portland, OR.
We would like to express our sincere thanks to all the staff at Quail Corner and Dr. Robbie Grant for their excellent care of Gene this past year and a special thank you to Rachel for her loving care.
Graveside services will be held on Thursday, August 30 at 1pm. In Lieu of flowers please send a donation to the Senior Citizen Center, 1480 Lay St, Winnemucca, NV 89445.
