October 12, 2022, 90, Goldsboro –
Carey Eugene Bostic passed away peacefully on Wednesday, October 12, 2022, at his home surrounded by his family.
Gene Bostic lived in this world for over 90 years. In hard times, grew up in bleak conditions as part of a large, close-knit family, located in a small rural community in central North Carolina. From a very young age, learned the respect and recognition that could be earned through hard work, caring for livestock, skidding logs up to a hilltop sawmill for his father, and plowing fields for 20 cents per acre behind a mule that he raised. On many occasions, was pulled out of school to break wild mustangs that the Army would periodically bring in from western states in train cars, stopping in the small town near his family’s home to refill the engine’s boiler with water.
While quite young, Gene developed a menacing left-handed pitching talent that placed him on the high school team in sixth grade and eventually carried him across the US, the UK, and Europe playing with the US Armed Forces baseball team for four years. It was in Sioux City, Iowa, playing an exhibition game that he met his future wife, Antoinette Pope. After serving in the Air Force, Gene was offered a job at Seymour Johnson AFB working on the fighters and bombers stationed in Goldsboro, NC. After work each night, Gene ran a bat-a-ball range just outside the base’s main gate. After the paying customers were finished for the night, Gene would exhibit his batting prowess against the pitching machine by hitting long balls and striking the number of aluminum trash cans placed in the outfield to collect the customers’ many balls from the evening’s hitting practices. After customers finished and departed, local workmen and farmers would gather on the small set of bleachers behind the batting cages and place wagers on Gene’s batting successes that night. Those that won their bets would tip Gene before the range lights were turned off, often exceeding what he had earned running the bat-a-ball range for the owner that night.
Gene was an accomplished automobile mechanic, specializing in small British cars, also supplementing his income by buying and resuscitating older feeble vehicles and reselling them at meager, often marginal profits. An admirable quality and one that inspired others to pay it forward, Gene traveled with a full toolbox and many spare parts, helping countless travelers stranded along roadsides, making repairs, often at his cost. Raising a son and daughter, Gene instilled the value of hard work and dedication towards accomplishing goals that had become his life-long signature.
After many years working on base in jobs ranging from flight line aircraft maintenance to the Commissary, to heavy equipment maintenance and eventually in the base’s motor pool, Gene retired and applied himself to learning small engine maintenance and repair, rescuing hundreds of pieces of ailing lawn equipment over the past thirty years. Throughout his life, Gene had many friends and acquaintances but was most fond of his family. Gene was a perfectly imperfect man and a man unafraid of hard work and challenges.
The family will receive friends on Saturday, October 22, 2022, from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. at Seymour Funeral Home followed by a service to celebrate Gene’s life at 2:00 p.m. in the chapel.
Gene is survived by his son, Steven Bostic (Karen Carver); daughter, Marie Bostic Crowder; grandchildren, Eli Bostic (Tyler), Dakota Irwin (SarahBeth), Rhiannon Bostic; great-grandchild, Banks Bostic; brother, Dr. Leslie Bostic; four sisters-in-law; and several nieces and nephews he loved very much.
The family would like to express their special thanks to Samantha Grant who was not only a caregiver but also a special friend to the family.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials be given to the
Salvation Army Women’s Auxiliary
610 N. William Street
Goldsboro, NC 27530 in memory of his late wife, Antoinette Bostic.
Services are entrusted to Seymour Funeral Home and Cremation Service. Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.seymourfuneralhome.com.
