ST. TAMMANY PARISH, LA. Obituary for: CONAWAY, GENE RAYMOND Submitted by: Louis Lavedan. Source: E.J. Fielding Funeral Home, Covington, La. Died: Friday, December 11, 2015 ======================================================================= Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgenweb.org/volunteers/copyright.shtml ======================================================================= CONAWAY, GENE RAYMOND December 8, 1941 - December 11, 2015 ========== A photo is available for this file. Please go to http://usgwarchives.net/la/sttammany/obits/dateobits/2015/st1512.htm and click to view list of photos. ========== Gene Raymond Conaway, age 74 of Covington, LA died on Friday, December 11, 2015 at St. Tammany Parish Hospital in Covington, LA. He was born on December 8, 1941 in New Orleans, LA to Thurlow Conaway and Delores Theobold Conaway Bruno. He is survived by his loving wife of 55 years, Judy Casamento Conaway. He is also survived by his daughter, Terry Conaway Meyer, and his five grandchildren, Ryan Meyer, Matthew Meyer, Tyler Meyer, Megan Meyer, and Madeline Meyer. He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Thurlow Conaway. Gene spent most of his life in New Orleans playing all kinds of sports, but excelling most of all in baseball. Gene and his brother, Thurlow, were a formidable pitcher-catcher battery at Nichols High School in New Orleans. Upon his high school graduation, Gene was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers organization where he played professionally and was catcher for many baseball greats, including Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale. Though injury cut his professional career short, he never left the game of baseball that he loved. While working at Boh Bros Construction in New Orleans as a Piping Estimator, he continued to stay involved with the game he loved by serving as a coach for all of his grandchildren and was their number one fan at all of their baseball and softball games through the years. It was through these efforts that he was able to have a positive impact on the lives of so many people. He coached and mentored thousands of players for over 60 years. In 1983, Gene was inducted into the Diamond Club of Greater New Orleans Hall of Fame. He was also a member of the Plumbers-Steamfitters Local Union 60 for over 50 years. Anyone who spent time with Gene, walked away from it a better person. During the past 16 years, Gene was always attending sporting events at Fontainebleau High School in Mandeville, LA. He loved all sports and loved dancing to the sounds of the band or the music at the baseball and softball games. It's hard to imagine Fontainebleau High baseball games without Gene Conaway. He was an iconic & beloved baseball legend. Words can't describe what he meant to the game and the community. Gene will be forever remembered by all who knew him as a loving, caring and good-hearted person who never ceased to put a smile on everyone’s face or make people laugh. He loved his beautiful bride and high school sweetheart, Judy, who he would have been married to 55 years next month. He adored his daughter Terry and was so proud of all her accomplishments and he just beamed with happiness when around her. But most of all, his love for his five grandchildren, Ryan, Matthew, Tyler, Megan, and Madeline was beyond measure. He was by their side throughout their lives, supporting them, mentoring them, teaching them, and cheering them on, whether at sporting events, theatre performances, dancing recitals, awards ceremonies, high school and college graduations, he never left them. His belief was that you never let one day go by in your life without doing something nice for someone else. He was never shy and always quick to strike up a conversation or share a story, usually about his favorite topics: baseball, fishing, horse racing, and most of all, his family. As Gene’s favorite baseball player Yogi Berra stated, “Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good, too.” Relatives and friends are invited to attend a memorial service to celebrate Gene’s life at 11:00 AM on Saturday, December 19, 2015 at E. J. Fielding Funeral Home, 2260 West 21st Avenue, Covington, LA 70433. Dr. Kenneth Schroeder will be officiating. Visitation will begin at 9:00 AM on Saturday, December 19, 2015. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Bulldog Diamond Club, P. O. Box 8962, Mandeville, LA 70471. ===================