| He graduated from
IVCC's predecessor, LaSalle-Peru-Oglesby Junior College in 1939. But on Feb. 16, when Eugene F. "Gene" Keutzer died at the age of 82, his influence was still being felt at the college. After a career in the military, Keutzer came back home and began teaching part-time at IVCC, a job that eventually became full-time and then evolved into chair of the engineering, mathematics and physical science division. |
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Eugene F. Keutzer |
"He was my favorite teacher," said Dorene Perez, director of the Computer Aided Design Program. "I was always one of two or three women in a roomful of guys, and there were a lot of times I felt very inadequate because of some attitudes about women in engineering. He seemed to recognize some sort of potential in me because he went out of his way to encourage me."
Keutzer graduated from L-P High School in 1937. During the time he attended L-P-O, he served as co-editor of the student newspaper, the L-P-O Echo, the IV Leader's predecessor.
He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Corps. While he was in the service, he earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Oklahoma.
He retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1973 as a Lieutenant colonel.
In 1976, he began teaching at IVCC. By 1979 he was teaching full-time, and in 1988 he was named chair of the division.
During his time at IVCC, he was recognized by being named an Outstanding Community College Faculty Member by the Trustees Association and in a Merit Award by the IVCC Board.
"I had a hard time calling him by his first name when I first started working with him because I respected him so much," Perez said. "It was as great working with him as being one of his students."
Keutzer died in Rancho Mirage, Calif. and was buried at the Rock Island Arsenal National Cemetary in Rock Island.
"I don't know if I ever told him how much he influenced me, and I was thinking that I was going to tell him the next time I saw him," Perez said. "I hope he knew."
Survivors are his wife Linda (Kubera) of Peru; one brother William (Mildred) Keutzer of Peru; and nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his first wife.
