Thursday, April 9, 1998 | 11:04 a.m.
Gene Baldwin was in every sense of the word a hands-on guy.
When he was not responding to disasters like Three Mile Island, he was rebuilding vintage automobiles that he used to compete in "The Great American Race."
He was a banjo player for a seven-piece Dixieland Band which next Wednesday will get together at Pogo's Tavern on North Decatur Boulevard for its 30-year reunion.
At the University of Arizona, Baldwin, who stood 6 feet 5 inches tall, was center for the basketball team. He earned a letter in 1957, according to the school's media guide.
"My dad was just a great liver of life," Brad Baldwin, a Denver talent agency owner, said. "He loved music, vintage cars and working in the nuclear industry -- especially as part of the Nuclear Emergency Search Team. He thought his work was worthwhile."
Cecil Eugene Baldwin, a mechanical engineer and manager who started working in the nuclear industry in the days of above-ground bomb testing and later built a robot to work with radioactive materials at the Nevada Test Site, died Monday of pancreatic cancer at his Las Vegas home. He was 62.
Private services for the Las Vegas resident of 40 years will be Saturday at the Evergreen Cemetery in Tucson, Ariz.
Baldwin, who started his career with Reynolds Electrical and Engineering Co. and stayed on when EG&G bought out REECo, said in the early days of the nuclear industry things were less formal and less regulated than they are today.
"When a device didn't go off like it was supposed to, it was always exciting to see who'd get the straw to re-enter and check out the problem," he was quoted as saying in an issue of the EG&G house magazine.
Still, Baldwin maintained to the end that his extensive exposure to radioactive materials did not bring on the cancer with which he was diagnosed in 1996.
In 1978, as part of his work that took him around the world, Baldwin helped gather radioactive pieces from a downed Russian satellite in Canada as part of "Operation Morning Light." His team also was skilled at detecting nuclear terrorist activities.
Baldwin was part of a team that responded to the loss of coolant incident at the Three Mile Island, Pa., nuclear reactor in 1979 and was on standby for the 1986 radiation leak disaster at the Chernobyl power plant in the Ukraine.
He also helped put together a Dixieland band comprised of nuclear industry workers. Al Villaire of Las Vegas was the pianist. Woody Butler of Las Vegas played clarinet. Pat Noakes of San Francisco played tuba. John Hunnicutt of Texas was on trombone. Chuck Conklin of California played cornet. The late Ralph Brown was the drummer.
On April 15, 1968, the nameless group opened Pogo's and started a Dixieland tradition at the bar that continues to this day. Every five years the surviving members reunite. Baldwin, though quite ill, had planned to play at the 30th anniversary show. His banjo will sit in an empty chair on stage during the performance.
"For Gene, the music was just fun to play," Villaire said. "And, this gig will be a celebration of life, not a mournful thing. That is how he would have wanted it."
Brick Baldwin, Gene's other son, said he enjoyed the many hours he, his dad and his brother worked on their antique cars, preparing them for the Interstate Batteries "Great American Race," a coast-to-coast event featuring vehicles built before 1937.
"Dad loved to work on the cars because, more than anything, it gave him a chance to spend time with his sons," Brick, a software developer and a Seattle resident, said.
"The last car we built was a 1915 Dodge Speedster. We put it together from 15 pieces shipped to us from all over the country. It was a pile of rust when we started."
The Baldwins, who failed to finish their first two Great American Races in a 1918 Dodge Roadster in 1988 and '89, completed the events in 1990 and '91. The last trip was in the Speedster and Gene did it with a handicap.
"Dad broke his foot the day before the race and didn't tell anybody about it," Brick, the car's navigator, said. "The last day, I had to drive the car to the finish line. But Brad and I had to do a lot of arguing with dad before he gave up the wheel."
For a June 17, 1990, story, Gene Baldwin told the SUN: "The real joy of owning an antique or vintage car is driving it. ... The Great Race (is) the most marvelous experience you can imagine."
Born Oct. 17, 1935, in Tucson, Baldwin was the son of Martin Baldwin, a prominent Tucson businessman, who lived into his 90s and helped Gene rebuild his vintage cars, including a 1931 Chevrolet Coup and a 1939 Pontiac.
A member of the Tucson boys choir and a graduate of Tucson High School, Gene earned a bachelor's degree in engineering at Arizona. He was recruited out of college to work in the nuclear industry. Baldwin worked a combined 38 years for REECo and EG&G.
One of his many accomplishments was designing a door-closing system that was used in a Test Site hangar.
He was a member of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity, the Antique Automobile Club and the Dodge Brothers Automobile Club, among other organizations.
Two years ago, Baldwin, after being reacquainted with his high school sweetheart, married her.
In addition to his two sons, Baldwin is survived by his wife, Margaret of Las Vegas; his mother, Minnie Mae Baldwin of Tucson; two daughters-in-law, Linda Baldwin of Denver and Connie Baldwin of Seattle; a sister, Barbara Baldwin Salyer of Tucson; and three grandchildren.
DONATIONS: In Baldwin's memory to the University of Arizona Cancer Center, UAF, for Pancreatic Cancer Research, c/o 1515 N. Campbell Ave., PO Box 245013, Tucson, Ariz. 85724.
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