Gene Crook passed away peacefully on November 13th, 2024 in Twain Harte, California, at 81 years old. Though he spent his final days in Twain Harte, he was a longtime resident of Castro Valley and a beloved husband, father, brother, and grandfather.
Born in Alameda, California on July 24, 1943, to Ernest and Maxine Crook, my dad's life was deeply intertwined with the water — and with the family business his father built. He grew up inside Crook's Boats, learning the craft from my grandfather Ernie: how to read a hull, how to machine a part, how to build something that would last.
He was curious about digital from early on — unusually so for someone from the boat-building world. He was the bridge. The shop and the screen were never two separate worlds to him, and that's the orientation he passed to me.
The Water
My dad loved the water his whole life. One of his proudest achievements was helping build the 36-foot ketch Sea Haven, which the Crook family used for vacations on Steamboat Slough on the Sacramento River. The family was well-known on the river — particularly for their ski boat, a novelty at the time. He spent many years teaching friends and family how to water ski.
After graduating from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1966, he served in the U.S. Coast Guard and was a member of their Ceremonial Honor Guard. The water was always there — in his work, his service, his weekends, his joy.
Twain Harte became a central gathering place for our extended family. Multiple times a year, we'd come together — kids, cousins, generations — to enjoy the outdoors, the summer warmth, and the tradition of life on the water at Twain Harte Lake. Those summers are woven into me.
What He Built
After his Coast Guard service, Dad joined Crook's Boats, working side by side with his father. He watched the industry shift as fiberglass began to replace wood, and he didn't resist it — he adapted. He and Ernie embraced the new technology together, eventually transitioning from building boats to running a showroom and service facility. In 1970, they incorporated the business, with my dad taking the helm as president. Crook's Boats closed its doors in 1987, after four decades of family craftsmanship.
He later became Vice President of Likit Windows and Manufacturing — still making things, still running operations, still building. That orientation never left him.
What He Gave Me
He gave me the river and the lake and the smell of a shop. He gave me the idea that curiosity and machinery could coexist — that a person could be interested in both how an engine works and how a computer thinks, without having to choose.
He married my mom, Lynn Jones, in 1968, and together they continued the Crook family tradition — creating new memories with us on the water, keeping the gathering alive, making Twain Harte mean something to the next generation. His faith was a constant: he was a dedicated Lifetime member of First Baptist Church, and it was central to how he moved through the world.
He leaves behind my mom Lynn, his sister Carolyn Simmons, my sister Jennifer Cox and her husband Brian Cox, Cheryl and me, and his grandchildren: Lindy, Matthew, Skyler, Shane, Brendan, Ally, and Connor.
I miss him. And I'm still building things because of him.