09/06/2026
Eugene R. Landis
Eugene “Gene” Landis died on September 4, 2026 at age 78. Only hours before, he was still telling stories, making jokes, and sharing love and concern for family and friends.
That was Gene. He was honest, adventurous, deeply funny, and had remarkable radar for authenticity. He knew when someone or something felt real. Those closest to him became keenly attuned when something was “so Gene Landis.”
He is remembered in this way by his longtime partner Phyllis Libby and children Chelsea Raby (partner Mitch Sheppard), Jesse Landis (wife Heather Landis), Levi Landis (wife Hannah Kern), and Lindsay Cook (husband Codee Cook). He is also survived by three siblings, Patti Gable, Connie Teissier and husband Luis, and Michelle Myers and husband Owen. Gene is preceded in death by his parents Menno E. and Virginia (Barnhart) Landis and his brother, Richard Landis.
Laughter was paramount to Gene’s life. He could take an ordinary remark, twist it half a turn, and hand it back as something so funny and perfectly phrased that the whole room would break open. He also loved to laugh himself, generously throwing his head back, squinting his eyes, and belly laughing. Gene told jokes like poetry and cooked like magic. Among his many delectable meals made from scratch, he would cook chicken croquettes, slippery pot pie, chicken à la king, Swedish meatballs, and the best butter-fried burger you could imagine. Before retiring, he worked at the Butcher Shoppe in Chambersburg, PA, preparing food and befriending coworkers and regulars.
He and Phyllis built a beautiful home together. It was the kind of place where people could sit on the porch, walk the grounds, eat well, laugh for hours, and bop around with Gene on the golf cart. Children loved being there, including his four grandkids Judah Landis, Cooper Cook, Lorne Landis, and Van Landis, as did a host of beloved dogs. Gene and Phyllis cared for foster and family dogs and surrounded themselves with animals, plants, and handmade objects they patiently tended.
Gene loved music. It was a language he used to seek and speak truth to those he met, including many creative people he always seemed to attract. He was not a musician so much as an enthusiast and a connector, a spark for inspiration for musical celebrities he lived with, renowned bands he managed, or his many road trip companions. Driving and talking was something he cherished, and especially appreciated doing for decades with his late brother Dick Landis.
Gene would from time to time say he needed to “get out of Dodge,” a nod to his appreciation for Westerns that also animated his passion for traveling and camping across the country. With his ingenuity, a coupon book would become a roadmap for summer adventures; an obscure album, a sort of guided prayer. On long drives, music and conversation were inseparable. Gene overcame poor health after losing his leg in early adulthood, but one leg was all he needed to press the pedal for 16 hours or more to a state park or river gorge he had researched.
Gene had an extraordinary green thumb. There seemed to be no plant he couldn't save, grow, and multiply. That same stewardship and crafted care went into every aspect of his life. He taught himself carpentry and woodworking and built or repaired much of his home himself, often finding possibility in scraps of wood that other people might have overlooked. He could make an ordinary day feel like an occasion and a small discovery feel important enough to share. He volunteered with Little League and youth groups, fed young people, built stages for nonprofit music venues, articulated his pride and love for others, and gave his time freely. To know Gene was also to know how much he loved his children and grandchildren and how proud of them he was. He said it often, always remembering those small details. He was there to support their ambitions and career paths. He inspired them to embrace the simple things in life and, of course, their love of music, the very core of Gene.
For the people who loved him, Gene will remain through the same actions that made him unmistakable in life: a perfectly timed joke, a meal made from scratch, a record played all the way through, a long drive toward somewhere worth seeing, a plant brought back from the brink, an evening on the porch. And maybe through and between these rituals, we will hear that voice… “Hey Groovy Boys and Girls, this is Gene the Bean, signing off.”
Memorial service information will follow. Arrangements are by Thomas L. Geisel Funeral Home, Chambersburg.
In lieu of flowers, the family would encourage a donation to your favorite charity or non-profit organization in his memory.
Online condolences may be expressed at geiselfuneralhome.com.
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