Eugene Pori Obituary (1939 - 2025)

Born May 06, 1939, Eugene Pori attended Santa Cruz High School in Santa Cruz, CA. View the obituary, post a memory, or share a photo about Eugene Pori.

Graduation Year	Class of 1957
Date of Birth	May 06, 1939
Date of Passing	Apr 30, 2025
About	Boise - Eugene (Gene) Roland Pori, 86, resident of Boise, Idaho passed peacefully on April 30, 2025. Gene was born in Atascadero, California on March 6, 1939, to Irene Manci and Roland Pori. The family, along with his brother Robert and sister Mary Jane, soon moved to Santa Cruz, California, where Gene attended Santa Cruz High School. After a tour of France courtesy of the US Army, Gene came back to Santa Cruz, where he met his sister's friend Nancy Brockway. After a whirlwind romance, they married at the Mission Santa Cruz and had two children: Kathleen (Kathy) and Anthony (Tony). Gene worked as a machinist in Santa Cruz, then on the California Aqueduct and for the Bureau of Reclamation and the Army Corps of Engineers, relocating every two years as opportunities arose. He and Nancy made friends in Bakersfield and Tracy CA, Fontenelle and Casper WY, Libby MT, Vancouver WA, and Redding and Cameron Park CA, before retiring to Meridian ID. Gene and Nancy loved family and celebrations, driving hundreds of miles to attend holidays and family reunions. Gene and his family and friends spent many hours riding motorcycles, hunting, fishing, hiking, and mountain climbing. But his sporting passion was bicycling, which he took up at age 50. He especially loved road riding, successfully completing the California Triple Crown (three 200-mile races in one season) along with too many other 100 mile rides to count. While he loved the physical challenges of riding, his favorite part of the sport was mentoring and supporting other cyclists. He was often at the rear of the group, encouraging newer riders with his "there's just one more little hill" (which was a lie) and "you can do it" (which was true). Gene was preceded in death by Nancy (October 25, 2022), and is survived by his children Kathy Keehan, his son Tony Pori and daughter-in-law Daria Pori, his grandchildren Nina Keehan and Natalie Keehan, his brother Robert Pori and sister-in-law Janice Pori, his sister Mary Jane O'Connor and brother-in-law Robert O'Connor, and his large group of cousins and dear family friends. The family would particularly like thank the staff of The Grove at The Terraces of Boise for their exceptional care and compassion during the last two years. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be sent to the Boise Bicycle Project.

Classmate Memories

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Robert Pori '61 posted a photo:

Bicycling had a huge impact on Gene. After his relocation to Boise he became an icon in the local bicycling community. We did many a ride together.
Bob Pori

Posted October 13th, 2025

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