Longtime Vashon Islander W.E. “Gene” Sinner died June 14, 2005, at the Vashon Community Care Center. He was 86 years old.

Mr. Sinner was born in 1918 in Sheboygan, Wis., to Charles and Elizabeth Sinner.

In 1941 he graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a master’s degree in physics. In 1943 he married Margaret Parish.

During World War II they lived in Washington, D.C. He served as Chief Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy.

In 1959 the Sinners moved to Vashon, and he worked for the Boeing Company, where he enjoyed a 25-year career as an aerospace engineer.

An avid handyman and outdoorsman, he shared many hunting and fishing adventures with his family and also a great love of music. The Sinner family often sang and played music together, with Gene in the lead as an accomplished pianist and tenor.

His wife Margaret and his daughter Susan died earlier.

Survivors include his son Loren Sinner and grandsons Spencer and Alex Sinner of Vashon, grandson Logan Sinner of Longmont, Colo., as well as granddaughters Sheridan Brigner, Morgan Herminette and grandson Christopher Herminette of Alaska.

Mr. Sinner wished to thank Joan Caron for all the loving care she gave him in his later years.

At his request, there will be no service.

Donations in his memory are suggested to the American Cancer Society.