Mr. Eugene Henry Tinner is a man that God has ordained and honored today, July 12th with 88 years of good health and strength. I have found him to be a God-fearing man that is compassionate and has great humility. He loves his family unconditionally, he is good man at home, in his community, at his church, around his friends and neighbors at all times. He has been a personal friend of mine for over 45 years.
I affectionally call him “Father.” I started this as a joke, I told him that with six children, I might as well be child #7, it soon was no longer a joke; he has always treated me like a personal member of his family. But through the years, I have witnessed him being a great husband and father. He is a long-time faithful member (over 50 years) at First Baptist Church of Hamilton Park where the late Dr. J. Lee Foster was his first pastor and now Dr. Gregory Foster is the Senior Pastor and Rev. Anthony (Tony) Foster is the pastor.
He has been married to my personal and good friend, Mrs. Euphemia (Phemia) Clement Tinner for 64 years and they have lived in the Hamilton Park Community for over 50th years. The Tinner’s have six adult children: Beverly, Renee, Rebecca, Regina, Reginald and Wilford. They are the proud grandparents of eight: Naarah Allen, first grandchild of the Tinner’s is a graduate of Austin College in Sherman, Texas; Jordan, Joshua and Lee Ann Tinner; Ebony Miller, a senior student at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas; Jared, Leeah, and Joseph Tinner and three great grandchildren: Joshua Aaron, Jr., Jacob Elijah and Kaylana Marie Tinner.
Mr. Tinner, through the years has been a member of the Hamilton Park Civic League, serving in many positions including the Executive Board; he has been a role-model Boy Scout Leader for the younger boys in the community. He retired in 1987 from Eastman Kodak after maintaining a perfect attendance for his entire working career. He was tardy only once, this was during a snowstorm; he left home two hours early and was only thirty minutes late that day. I wouldn’t even tell anyone I was late, Eastman Kodak never recorded him as being late that day, so why should he?
Mr. Tinner completed his duties in the Army CC Camp in 1941, went into the United States Army in 1943 and received his honorable discharge in 1948, was grateful and felt blessed of God when he received an official autographed picture and a congratulations card from President Barack and Mrs. Michelle Obama for his years of service in the Army and his birthday on July 12, 2010.
He served in the Philippines and in Tokyo, the capital city of Japan, located on Tokyo Bay on the eastern coast of Honshu Island. He was in Tokyo, Japan the same time as Brigadier General Douglas MacArthur, who was fired by President Harry S. Truman in 1951 because of the constant friction between General MacArthur and the Joints Chiefs of Staff in Washington.
Mr. Tinner said that President Truman was the president who had the sign on his desk in the Oval Office, “The Bucks Stops Here” and he also coined the phrase, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” Mr. Truman was the president who gave the orders to drop the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945.
When Mr. Tinner was stationed at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas he was an engineer who helped build bridges and roads; he also helped build bridges and roads in the Philippians and in Japan.
