Eugene H. Cavecche

Eugene Henry Cavecche passed away on Sunday Evening. Gene was a member of "The Greatest Generation" born in New Britain Connecticut on March 2, 1924. Gene was one of 4 children born to Italian Immigrants who traveled through Ellis Island in 1912. The family moved from the East Coast to the Los Angeles Area in 1935. At the age of 13 Gene had uncredited acting roles in the Hollywood Motion Pictures: Boy of the Streets (1937), Circus Girl (1937) and Two Wise Maids (1937). In the months immediately following the attack on Pearl Harbor Gene convinced his father to sign authorization papers to allow his underage enlistment into the Navy.

After WWII, Gene graduated from the University of Southern California as a Mechanical Engineer but he practiced as an Aerospace Engineer achieving Top Government Secret Security Clearance and most notably becoming the Manager of Research & Development for Aerojet General Corporation and leading the design on the Navy's experimental SES100A surface effect ship. The SES100A was the precursor to the modern day LCAC used by the Navy with great success in the Persian Gulf War. In addition, Gene worked on many ICBM System Programs as well as the SR-181 Strategic Earth System Study and SR-183 the Lunar Observatory Studies. These System Requirement Studies were later declassified and found to be an outline for the establishment of a manned intelligence observatory on the Moon including a nuclear weapons platform for launching defensive vehicles. Gene finished his 20 year aerospace career as the Director of Technology for Litton Systems.

In 1972 Gene retired from the Aerospace Industry and became the founder and CEO of his own company called Cavecche Engineering & Construction. Gene's company was named to the INC 500 Fastest Growing Companies Registry and his company completed hundreds of projects throughout Southern California including such notable projects as the Long Beach Fire Station, CSULA Fine Arts Building, Metropolitan Water District Control Center, and the LAX International Customs Terminal. Gene successfully managed his firm for nearly 40 years and was very happy to involve all of his children in the business.

Gene married Dorothy Crowley in 1951 and was happily married for over 50 years until Dorothy's passing in 2001. Together Gene and Dorothy were blessed with 7 children and 9 grandchildren. Gene was lucky in love and in 2008 married Karis Say spending the last 6 years of his life in married bliss. At the time of his passing, Gene was comfortable, surrounded by his family, and passed away immediately following the ministration of the Last Rites of the Catholic Church.

A Funeral Mass will by held on Tuesday, February 11, 2014 at 10am at St. John Fisher Catholic Church in Rancho Palos Verdes, California with an interment at Miramar National Cemetery in San Diego.

Funeral Home:
Green Hills Mortuary and Memorial Chapel
27501 S.Western Ave.
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
US 90275