Eugene Hamlet, Long-time Long Beach resident, dies at 84

Gene Hamlet, a resident of Long Beach for 50 years and a Herald columnist, died on Feb. 11. He was 84.

Hamlet was born in Waukegan, Illinois., enlisted in the U.S Army and served in Germany during World War II. He attended Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, and Loyola University Law School in Chicago.

For 20 years Hamlet was a vice president and a products liability specialist at Toplis and Harding in New York City, a branch of Llyods of London. He was an active member of the Long Beach VFW. An avid cyclist, he loved traveling with his wife, Caroline, and rode throughout Europe. Each summer he participated in RAGBRAI, a bike race across Iowa.

During his retirement, Hamlet penned a profile column for the Long Beach Herald called “Gene Talked To.”

Hamlet is survived by his children Cathy, Guy, Peter, Luke and Joseph, all of Long Beach, and Liz of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and his grandchildren Alexandra, Taylor, David, Thomas, Luke, Emma, Christopher, John and Pete.