Eugene "Gene" Clayton Estes Profile Photo
1940 Eugene "Gene" 2024

Eugene "Gene" Clayton Estes

August 22, 1940 — July 13, 2024

Mt. Crested Butte, CO

Eugene Clayton Estes of Crested Butte, Colorado passed from this life on July 13th, 2024 at the age of 83. Eugene (“Gene”) was born on August 22, 1940 in Newport, Arkansas to Nora Viola Jordan and Clyde Clayton Estes. In addition to Arkansas, the family also lived in Union County, Louisianna but moved to the Lenapah, Oklahoma area when Gene was approximately 8-9 years old. Gene graduated from Lenapah High School in 1958 and attended Coffeyville Community Junior College in Coffeyville, Kansas where he received his Associate degree in 1961. Gene subsequently received his BS in Architectural Engineering from Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma in 1964.

 

In 1961, Gene married Nancy Jo Riggs of Coffeyville, KS and from that union, two sons were born: David Eugene Estes and Reed Alan Estes. After college, Gene worked in the architectural engineering field and the family resided in Tulsa, Oklahoma until he relocated the family to Castle Rock, Colorado in 1978. In 1983, Gene transitioned from architectural engineering to the real estate business. Gene and Nancy divorced in 1983 and Gene married Lieschen Ann Mudge in 1984. Gene and Lieschen had a son in1985 (Shayn Clayton Estes); Gene was widowed when Lieschen suddenly passed away from cancer in1994. In 2020, his son Shayn unexpectedly passed away from an accidental death in Crested Butte, Colorado.

 

After working in the Architectural Engineering and Real Estate industries for several years, Gene relocated from Parker, Colorado to Crested Butte, Colorado in 2008, where he spent the remainder of his life, most of which with his son Shayn. Gene loved hunting and fishing and passed that tradition on to his sons David and Reed and they in turn passed it on to their children (Hannah & Ben), as well as Reed’s wife Susan. Gene also loved photography and his son Shayn carried on that tradition, as Shayn was an avid and gifted photographer in his own right.

 

Gene is survived by his son David and wife Trollie Estes of Covington, LA and granddaughter Hannah Estes of Raleigh, NC, son Reed and wife Susan Estes of Lenapah, OK and grandson Ben and wife Whitney Gilbert of Nowata, Oklahoma. Gene is also survived by several cousins including Judy Jenkins and Casey Cole, both of Fort Worth, TX, and Maleisa Belcher of Sunset, TX as well as numerous friends in Oklahoma, Colorado and beyond.

 

Gene was preceded in death by his parents, Nora Viola (Jordan) Estes and Clyde Clayton Estes of Lenapah, OK, wife Lieschen Ann (Mudge) Estes of Parker, CO and most recently by son Shayn Clayton Estes of Crested Butte, CO.

 

There will be no memorial service but the family plans to scatter Gene’s ashes in Colorado (along with some of Shayn’s ashes) in the streams and mountains that they both loved and in Oklahoma where Gene was raised. Condolences may be left on the Gunnison Funeral Service website. The family would like to thank several of Gene’s friends and the Crested Butte community as a whole for their outpouring of sympathy and support during this difficult time.

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