Welcome Gene Esch - New Chair of Trustees
There are no coincidences in Gene Esch’s life story or how he became the new Chair of Trustees. But I get ahead of myself. Gene has been active at SUM since 2020. He grew up a country kid in southwest Nebraska, either helping his Dad and Grandpa on the family farm or assisting in his Dad’s welding shop.
He has worked in the automotive industry for the past thirty-eight (38) years. Gene started working on tractors and combines for a John Deere dealership and ended up with Honda. He made it to Connecticut from Texas through a transfer from Honda Motors in 2020 to become the coordinator of the training facility in Windsor Locks.
Back to ‘there are no coincidences.’ Gene met his wife, Leigh Ann when she visited his dealership for an oil change. Needless to say, the outcome was far more than an oil change, including marrying Leigh Ann and creating a family, including their two children, Helana (10) and Archer (3). He enjoys spending time with his family and working around their house. In his spare time, he follows Nebraska and Kansas State sports – mostly football. He is grateful to Pastor Gene for reintroducing him to his love of working on models.
Gene’s leadership in Trustees is heaven-sent. Again, ‘no coincidences.’ His family has a history of volunteerism. His father and brothers served in the Midwest on school, banking, hospital, and athletic boards. Gene loves to give back and does so for SUM as a member of Trustees as well as the local National Skills USA organization, where he designs, builds, and manages the automotive high school body electrical station at their national event in Atlanta each year. Being a technician and growing up on the farm-welding shop helped him learn many things over the years, not to mention his years of experience as a service manager.
With his family’s tradition of volunteerism, the experience and expertise he has honed over the years, and his love of the SUM community, we are delighted he answered ‘Yes’ to the request to serve as chair of Trustees. The committee voted him in, and he immediately jumped in with both feet to work on several rare and complicated campus issues. Yikes.
Gene really values the friendships he has made since he started attending SUM. We are glad he found us. Welcome to your new role, Gene.
- Deacon Deb