BROWN COUNTY
Robert “Gene” VerSteeg passed away peacefully at home on July 8, 2024, with his wife of 65 years, Dixie Roberta (Johnson), by his bedside. His parents were Orville Ray and Myrtle Alice (Renaud) VerSteeg of Lynnville, Iowa, where he was born on May 6, 1938, and raised.
After graduating high school, Gene married his sweetheart, Dixie, and they moved to California. The couple relocated to California during his service in the U.S. Navy, on the USS Bremerton, as a deep-sea diver / boiler technician. After his honorable discharge, Gene and Dixie returned to Iowa and began raising a family. Eventually, they moved to Indiana for a job opportunity, raising their three sons, Mark, Jerry and Craig, in Franklin for several years. Lastly, they relocated to Brown County, where they remained for the last four decades.
Gene’s career was marked by his dedication and expertise in maintenance roles, including his time as the director of the Franklin College Physical Plant. He later spent several years traveling across Indiana as an inspector for Hartford Steam Boiler Insurance Company, from which he retired.
In his free time, Gene enjoyed fishing, hunting and tinkering in the garage or yard. He was happiest when at home with Dixie or in nature with his sons. Their long weekends at the cabin in Owen County, Indiana, were some of his most talked about memories.
Dixie, survives, as do their sons and their wives: Mark VerSteeg (Kendra), Jerry VerSteeg (Natalie) and Craig VerSteeg (Amy). Their grandchildren Brooke VerSteeg, DPT, (Zach Pigg, DPT) and Josh VerSteeg also survive. Gene also has two surviving nieces and their spouses and children. Gene was preceded in death by his parents and earlier this year by his only sibling, Clark R. VerSteeg, and his late wife, Kathy.
To honor Gene’s wishes, the family will celebrate his life in a private service before his burial at First Mt Pleasant Cemetery in Trafalgar, Indiana. Instead of flowers, please consider donating to the Brown County VA: 902 Deer Run Lane Nashville, IN 47448 or a charity of your choice in his memory.
Condolences may be sent to the family at meredith-clark.com.
