Gene 'Unk' was born on March 6, 1924, the son of the late Fred and Rose (Motiff) Tahlier.  He attended school in Green Bay and graduated from Green Bay West High School.  He served in the U.S. Navy Air Corp, as a nose gunner on a PBY, in the Pacific during WWII.  He returned to school on the G.I. Bill, graduating from UW-Stout with a teaching degree in Industrial Arts.  He married Charlotte Pregont on June 11, 1949.  He accepted a job teaching in Indiana, but left education for many years, trying several different careers – driving a bread truck, working for Firestone and operating the Shell Station in Shawano before returning to teaching at Shawano High School, where he remained until his retirement.  After he retired, he had plenty of time to pursue some of his many interests.  He enjoyed spending time with family and friends.  He never met a person he couldn't talk to and had many "poems" and "one liners" that would make everyone groan and roll their eyes.  He also never lost his love of woodworking and always had a new project he was working on.  Gene made dozens of frames for his original oil painting, built furniture and helped with the construction of homes, garages and sheds.  After moving to the house next door to his daughter and son-in-law in Amherst Junction 2012, he slowed down a little and did more reading, playing cribbage, watching TV westerns and going fishing as often as possible.

Gene is survived by:  his sister, Donna (Bob) Neu; his daughter, Barbara (Ken) Zwickey; his sons, Thomas (Cathy) Tahlier, John (Lynn) Tahlier; his grandchildren, James (Jamie), John, Emily, Abigail and Alivia Tahlier, PC Atria, Victoria (Teddy) Forst, Hanna, Lindsay and Molly Newcomb; his great-grandchildren, Jordanne Tahlier, Teddy and Brody Forst; his "adopted" sons, Jim (Linda) and Joel (Nada) Newcomb; his two furry "kids", Sadie and Mollie, as well as numerous nieces, nephews and friends.

He is preceded in death by:  his parents, Fred and Rose; his wife, Charlotte; two sisters, Elaine (Cleon) McAllister and Lois (Lindy) Lindsten; and his sister-in-law, Shirley (Ron) Kropla.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, March 5, 2019 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Shawano with Rev. Tom Farrell officiating.  Following the service, military honors will be conducted by the Shawano AMVETS Post #10.  Visitation will be held from 4:00 – 8:00 p.m. on Monday at the Swedberg Funeral Home in Shawano and again at the church on Tuesday from 10:00 a.m. until the time of the service.  A prayer service will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Monday at the funeral home.

The family would like to thank the staff of Ascension Hospice Care, along with the nurses and aides at Iola Living Assistance for the care they provided for Dad the past few months.