After finding herself alone at the age of 43, Gene put herself through nursing school.  She eventually became a private duty nurse, caring for, among many others, the mother of Stanley Marcus, founder of Neiman-Marcus.  
She kept a garden that she tended daily, walked her cat on a leash, and made many friends in her neighborhood.  Her favorite bird was the cardinal.
She was the mother of three children, grandmother of six, great-grandmother of two.