Harland Eugene Gaiser was born September 22nd, 1942. He died October 13th, 2024, and is survived by his two sisters, Janny and Joan. Harland was also survived by his roommate of over 15 years, K.C.
Gene, as he was known by his friends, served honorably in the United States Army and attended Baylor University, but he was most recently known and loved by the Emmaus Church community in Downtown Denver.
Gene faithfully attended Emmaus Church for close to 10 years. If you’re watching or listening to the any of the sermons at Emmaus church, you get the pleasure of regularly hearing a hearty “Amen!” from Gene. No one could miss him, and his absence in the later months of Gene’s life was felt hole his small church community.
Gene was best known for riding his bike around the Baker neighborhood and spending time at some of his favorite places to eat. If you got a chance to talk to Gene for any length at church, you were regularly invited to Smokn’ Yards or Swift’s. He wasn’t known for sharing a lot of personal details, but he wouldn’t miss an opportunity to share time with his church family over a meal.
In the last decades of his life, Gene read about 5-7 books a week. His trivia was regularly fact checked, mainly because it was so obscure, but his memory rarely missed a beat. He could tell you names, dates, places, and specific address in ways that could only be validated in our Google search era. He read so many books, that disposing, donating, or recycling all his “pocket books” became a complex issue by itself!
Gene’s favorite event was the annual Super Bowl party. He could sit on a comfortable chair, eat all the food he enjoyed, have conversation with his community, and play with the little children who ran around the house. One of the few times Gene didn’t hesitate to ask for help was when he needed a ride to the party. It’s how we knew how important this annual celebration was to him.
When Gene was asked about his biggest regrets, he was disappointed that he didn’t invest early in Microsoft, so he could make larger financial gifts to the church. I think Gene now knows that his prayers over the decades were infinitely more useful for the kingdom than any financial gift he was able to give. Gene also underestimated his regular, consistent financial gifts he gave to his small church family.
I don’t think we’ll truly know Gene’s impact on the Kingdom of God until we are again eating with him in eternity. Gene was great at pulling many young affluent couples out of their comfort zone and closer to the Lord. Gene regularly called others to lay aside their selfishness and serve. Gene was truly an instrument for the glory and majesty of Jesus Christ, both Gene’s Lord and Gene’s Savior.
Amen!!
Bev Murphy Wells: “How sad to hear about another loss to our class; good to hear Gene attended one of the class reunions. Sincere condolences to his family and friends.”