Eulogy for Our Father: Gene Rantz
September 18, 2021
I want to thank the members of the Northport Village Arts Association for their kindness in holding this memorial in their beautiful facility. Dad was very proud to have participated in the effort to see the dream of such a facility, in his beloved community, come true. On behalf of myself and my sisters, Cheryl and Marjorie her husband Bob and my wife Colleen, Gene’s Brother Roger and the many of Dad’s grandchildren that are here we want to thank everyone for attending today’s memorial for Gene & Judy.
As Gene’s family knows, he must have touched your heart in some way.
Reflecting on Dad’s life, two words I would use to describe his spirit, CARPE DIEM! Seize the day! He often told me, “I love each day, it gives me a chance to start over, get things done, get organized, see the world around me. Don’t people realize we won the lottery by just being born?”
GENE LEWIS RANTZ, was born June 17, 1932, in his grandfather Wiley’s farmhouse in Martin Michigan
Dad did many things in his long life, his talents ranged from:
Plumber; Electrician; Music Concert Producer; Carpenter, Businessman; Ski Area Founder & Operator; Gardener; Maple Syrup Producer; Farmer with, cows, chickens, goats; Racing Sailor & Cruiser; Baseball Player; Golfer; Bowler; Boxer; Graphic-Commercial Artist; Army Officer-Sharpshooter; Master Fly Fisherman; Father, Brother, Husband, Uncle, Grandfather, Great Grandfather & Best Friend.
Dad graduated from WMU in 1954 as an Art Major. Having been in the ROTC program at WMU, Gene spent two years on active duty in the US ARMY as a lieutenant posted mainly in Alaska. Gene competed on many rife teams while in the army and was highly sought by Generals who wanted his talents on their teams. This popularity provided Dad with many opportunities to fly around the country attending shooting matches. Dad spoke fondly of his time in artic indoctrination school and the adventures of fishing in the artic wilderness for trout and grayling. While in Alaska he located his long-missing Uncle, Howard Long, who ran away from an unhappy home in Michigan as a very young man and homesteaded a beautiful tract of land along Kenai Lake. They renewed family bonds and formed a kinship that lasted until Howard’s death. I think Howard’s story may have inspired Dad to act in the future when it came time to re-balance happiness and discover the meaning of his life.
Just prior to and after his discharge from the Army he focused on having a family. This required steady employment and he went to work for a company in Kalamazoo that involved graphic art. Working 9-5 did not satisfy Dad and he soon turned his attention to becoming a successful self-employed commercial artist and dabbling in a part-time hobby with his brothers. This hobby consisted of acquiring land and building a ski area. Something not heard of in Southern Michigan. Buying a farm and moving the family to be closer to the ski area seemed like a good idea at the time. Living in the county consisted of riding horses, milking goats, raising chickens and planting self-sustaining gardens, which all were a wonderful experience for us children.
One time on the farm Dad was shaking charcoal briskets from the bag into his grill. This shaking sound drove our huge, free-range Tom Turkey to fly directly at Dad. Of course, the surprise of having this giant bird attack, Dad threw the charcoal bag, with the turkey flapping wildly on it, as far as he could. When the bag hit the ground and after Dad stopped running, he realized the turkey must have interpreted the shaking noise as a turkey mating call. Tom’s gobbles and strutting demonstrated he only had amorous intentions toward the bag of charcoal and not trying to harm Dad. We all laughed.
Yet over time, Dad’s restless, creative spirit was not satisfied with graphic art, the farm or the ski area operation and he needed to search over the horizon to express himself. As Dad was fond of telling the story, at 50 years of age he famously loaded his beloved sailboat SUMMER BREEZE with art supplies and departed South Haven for Northern Michigan. That is when he discovered Northport and Judy. This is where the most inspiring chapter of his life began, was fulfilled and ended.
Gene loved the water which included fishing and sailing. He was fond of saying, “I love my sailboat, it only takes me to beautiful places.” He also said while sailing, “As I look across my compass rose, the wind is always on my nose.”
Dad loved to do the annual father-son flyfishing trip to his secret lake in the Upper Peninsula where before, he and a small group of guys started fishing after they graduated from Plainwell High School in 1950. Both Bob and I cherish those times together with our fathers, catching bluegills and telling fish stories by the fire over the traditional martini toast. Even after leaving Munson hospital last month, for what we thought was the last time, Dad insisted we commit to the Upper Peninsula trip for next spring. He bought a new battery for his trolling motor and was looking to the future, as he always did.
We all knew Dad in many ways. He was a superb storyteller and always seemed to have the right story to fit the moment. If you drove into his driveway, Dad would stop whatever his was doing, to play hooky with his chores or his painting, to take visitors on explorations via automobile, boat or just plain walking. He loved to share his experiences and insights with people, and they loved to have him share. His wisdom impacted many who met him. When you were with Dad, you became part of his world, and he became part of yours. Dad would always speak so highly of those around him. His fabric of friends were real and warm. To love and be loved, what else is there to be?
Gene was a kind and gentle man. He loved children, little dogs and food. He loved Judy’s cooking. He said, “When I die, I’m going to miss good food the most.” He also loved to laugh, especially at himself. We all got a kick out of bringing to his attention the new paint colors he had added to his shirt sleeves or the bottom of his trousers after he had sat in his pallet. Humor was a central theme to his easy-going lifestyle.
As we all know his true calling was his endless pursuit of the perfect painting. He studied paintings of the master’s and continued to add their secrets to his ever-growing painting talents. Dad began a life-long journey to pursue his ultimate passion of becoming a fine art landscape painter. For inspiration Gene loved roaming the Northern Michigan and Florida country sides observing the changing seasons in search of bluegills, alligators, songbirds, wild asparagus, berries and morel mushrooms. He had a deep love for the natural world and could see so many inspirational subjects in nature by just sitting quietly on his porch with a cup of warm tea and his thoughts. His artistic eye gave him a unique vision to capture life on canvas and to share with us. His legacy and gift to us all was to wander the world, to see nature’s beauty and secrets and then with the stroke of a brush, to hold them tight in the paint for untold generations to enjoy.
Some people go to church for inspiration, Gene found it all around him. Even on his last day in Northport, Gene was toting his water bottle, wearing a white, wide-brimmed hat, carrying a copy of his favorite landscape artist’s book and a camera. He was capturing his next inspirations for his paintings. Gene fulfilled his ultimate passion and lived life the way he dreamed. We are all so grateful he did.
“The human need to relate with the natural world finds many outlets. For painters, the urge to capture nature’s intrigue is most compelling. With paint and canvas, confined to two dimensions, we set forth to capture that elusive beauty lavished upon us by nature. In Leelanau, I find a dazzling abundance of compositions from which to draw painting inspiration and a public of art conscious people drawn here by a mutual appreciation of the beauty of this land.” Gene Rantz, 2005
“Few locales in this country play host to such an accomplished company of painters, and one of the most distinguished of these is the Northport artist, Gene Rantz. Gene gets the color, the softness, the slant of light, the Northern bite of cold, the lushness of summer in a chill climate, the saturated greens, the purplish grays, the breathless blues. He gets the soul of Leelanau down on canvas.” Governor William Milliken, 2006
When writing a book passage for his good friend the portrait artist, Fred Petroskey, Gene wrote, “You see a lot of current painters’ work that is so tight. It’s because they are really influenced by the photograph. Fred goes beyond that; he knows his colors and he knows his brushes and he knows how to swish it around. Fred encouraged me when I first moved to the area. He seemed to appreciate what I was doing. We like to talk about painting, about color and brush strokes and things that you can’t really talk about with other people. A commissioned portrait is a toughie, because it’s hard to please people quite often. We all have a streak of vanity in us that’s hard to please. Fred makes it awfully tantalizing when you see how creamy and wonderful, he uses color. Fred handles all three mediums well. He has studied and worked hard. For a serious painter it is a lifelong thing. If you become satisfied with yourself when you have finished, you should realize that you can always go farther. People in the arts get uncomfortable looking at art that they can never obtain, so they keep their eyes on things that anybody can do. The unfinished sketch or smear of paint with a couple of lines, they sign it, put it in a frame and put a big price on it. I think there’s an awful lot of artists that don’t want to go through the effort that Fred has gone through to get where he is today. He will certainly leave valuable paintings behind that are going to live forever.” Gene Rantz, 2008
“Gene was a huge people person who talked to everyone. When I met him, it was like meeting my long-lost best-friend. He was one of the warmest, friendliest and most exuberant people I have ever met, and I learned so much from him so quickly.” Betsy Ernst, 2021
“Art is man’s distinctive human way of fighting death.” Leonard Bakin, 1922
We are so proud and lucky to have had such a father. Someone who was beloved by his community and cherished by his family. Through his paintings and our hearts, he will always be with us.
Thank you, folks, for attending. William Gene Rantz
“Thoughts to ponder. Painting to be great, besides having achieved technical mastery must be inspired by love. Love for the world and it’s place in the vast universe. This I believe”. Gene Rantz, 1998.
“Damn, I’ve seen some places…wish you could see them the way I did. There’s a cove along Huron’s Canadian shore…Bear Drop Harbor, where the rocks come down into the water…cliffs of granite…beautiful reflections in the pools below…Smallmouth Bass…hidden to all but me…alone in the dingy…holding each fish to the sun before releasing into the water…or into my pail for dinner. No one around to see except me and that gull over there. Damn it’s nice. A page from Gene’s Diary 1978
August 15, 2021 Dear Northport Community,
Gene Rantz, my dearest friend, family man, artist extraordinaire, adventurer, yachtsman, story teller, fly fisherman, man of music and fun, died of a heart attack yesterday with his family by his side.
In 1985, I was with Gene when he sailed his C&C, the Summer Breeze, from South Haven to Northport. As we made our final tack while rounding Northport Point, we were surprisingly, but appropriately greeted with a double rainbow over the Bay. It was then that Gene made Northport his new home and began painting the beauty of the Leelanau landscape that he so affectionately admired.
Gene's relentless passion for the beauty of nature was the force that drove him to paint each and every day. He was consumed by visual information of the great outdoors and could create a composition of beauty wherever he might be. His enthusiasm was contagious and inspiring. He touched the hearts and minds of so many through his work and his friendly, most exuberant expression.
Beyond his painter's palette, Gene's humble, believable character and social skills were instrumental in providing the catalyst that inspired the creation of the Northport Village Arts Building. He set the bar high and truly made a difference for us all.
Gene will be greatly missed but his art and our memories of him will always inspire.
With my love, David Brigham
Today is my Birthday. I’m 42 years old. 42 is just like, 14, or 24 or whatever-you really don’t feel any older. Life is still as full of expectancy and hope as it can be. Only time seems to be of more importance-a greater urgency to get things accomplished-life gets better. A page from Gene’s Diary: June 17, 1974
To contact:
William Gene Rantz
10928 Beech Island
Plainwell, MI 49080
wllmrntz@gmail.com