Eugene Engelkes

JANESVILLE - Eugene Engelkes, 71, of Janesville, formerly of Wellsburg, passed away on Monday, January 5, 2026, at UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital in Waterloo surrounded by his family. 

A visitation was held Friday, Jan, 9 at Wellsburg Reformed Church in Wellsburg. Funeral services were held Saturday, Jan. 10 at Wellsburg Reformed Church in Wellsburg. Interment was at Hazel Green Cemetery in rural Ackley. In lieu of flowers memorials may be directed to the family.

Eugene H. Engelkes was born on June 16, 1954, in Grundy Center, to Bernard and Marian (Smit) Engelkes. Gene was baptized and confirmed at the Wellsburg Reformed Church. He graduated from Wellsburg High School in 1972. On July 26, 1974, Gene married his high school sweetheart, Melissa Ross.

Gene and Melissa raised four children and shared more than 30 years together. As a family, they canoed, camped, and traveled, filling their home, camper, and many a campground with songs, laughter, and stories. Together, Gene and Melissa participated in the Meadowbrook Golf Course couples league, hosted and took part in card club, helped organize the Grundy County Halloween Scavenger Hunt and served as youth group leaders at Wellsburg Reformed Church—among many other adventures that defined their life together.

Gene enjoyed farming but also worked in a variety of trades over the years, including installing satellite dishes, laying carpet for Frederick Furniture and spending 27 years at Richelieu Foods as a mixer and later a palletizer. He retired on Dec, 29, 2016.

After Melissa’s passing and as the children began families of their own, Gene began a new chapter of life with Judy Fisher in 2015, moving to Janesville in 2016. Together, Gene and Judy enjoyed playing cards—especially cribbage—and raising a small farm for their shared grandchildren to enjoy. As winter Texans, they spent a decade at San Juan Gardens, often stopping in Luckenbach, Texas, to sit beneath the shade trees and listen to guitar players.

At home, Gene took great pride in his personal butcher shop and smokehouse, where he prepared sausage, chicken, deer sticks, jerky, and more—skills he loved to practice and share. Gene belonged to the Smokey Ridge Muzzle Loaders, a rendezvous group of campers, where he camped and re-enacted alongside Melissa and, years later, with Judy. He also enjoyed the Northeastern Iowa Pond Club, building backyard ponds during his life with both women.

Gene was a man of song and stories who loved to play his guitar for anyone who would stop to listen—even if it was only himself or his family. He loved to laugh and sought to bring joy—if not a smile—to everyone he met, whether through his words, his jokes, or goodies from his smoke shack.

Gene was preceded in death by his wife, Melissa Engelkes; his son, Bret Engelkes; and his sister, Jan Yackey.

Gene is survived by his son, David “Hippie” Engelkes of Wellsburg; daughters Kelly (Vince) Mancuso of La Vista, Nebraska, and Lindsey (Doug) Freese of Steamboat Rock; and daughter-in-law Daniela Engelkes of Grandview, Missouri. He is also survived by nine grandchildren: Emma, Wyatt, Tevah, Elithea, Elaia, LillyAnn, and Riggs Engelkes, and Alana and Leo Mancuso, as well as his siblings, Darwin Engelkes and Beth Slifer.

Gene is also survived by Judy Fisher and her children: Ben and Ashton; David and Ashley; and Keir, Hayley, and Olivia, along with his bonus grandchildren: Brynlee and Ellie Fisher, Cole Tranenfeld, AJ, Arya, Autumn, and Amber Brooks.