Eugene Pelchat, Sr.

Eugene Joseph Pelchat, Sr. 91 of Sioux City passed away on Sunday, May 20, 2018 at a local care facility after a brief illness. 

Memorial services will be at 1:00 P.M. Wednesday at Meyer Brothers Morningside Chapel. Rev. Liz Tucker will officiate. Refreshments and fellowship with the family will follow the service at the funeral home. Burial will be at a later date in Memorial Park Cemetery. Online condolences may be sent to www.meyerbroschapels.com. 

Gene was born October 30, 1926 in West Springfield, MA; he was the son of Phillias and Edna (Menard) Pelchat. Gene was raised by his foster parents Chester and Stella Main. He attended Amherst, MA High School before joining the U.S. Navy at the age of 17 in December of 1943. He served in the South Pacific Theatre on a minesweeper. He was discharged in 1946. 

In April of 1946, Gene married Betty Jean (O’Dell). To this union, four children were born. In April of 1973, Gene married Barbara (Brousard) Peterson. 

Gene was a partner at Fethke Cleaners in Sioux City in the 1950’s. He sold insurance for Banker’s Life and Casualty in the 1960’s. He also was an installation engineer for Saxe Freeman in Omaha in the late 1960’s. In 1969, Gene joined St. Joseph Hospital in Sioux City as Institutional Services Director and was instrumental in the merger of St. Joseph and St. Vincent Hospitals. He retired from the then-called Marian Health Center in 1988. From there he became a consultant for Sioux Laundry until his full retirement. 

Gene enjoyed spending time with his wife Barbara, family and friends. He loved playing cards, his trips to Vegas and telling some pretty interesting stories. Gene had a deep faith in the Lord. 

Survivors include his wife Barbara of Sioux City; his son William “Bill” Pelchat (Jeannie) of Sioux City, 2 daughters Barbara Hudelson (Bob) of Burbank, SD, Debra Vortherms (Denny) of LeMars, IA; step son Walt Peterson (Lynne) of Sioux City and step daughter Laurie Richer (Mick) of Sioux City; 16 grandchildren, 4 step grandchildren and several great grandchildren. 

Gene was preceded in death by his parents and his son Eugene J. Pelchat, Jr. 

The family would like to sincerely thank Hospice of Siouxland for their remarkable caring assistance during Gene’s final days and they would like to thank the staff at Westwood Nursing and Rehab Center for their help in ensuring Gene’s comfort while he was a patient there. 

Memorials may be directed to Hospice of Siouxland.