Obituary

Eugene “Gene” Cummings nu64 Enters Chapter Eternal

Brother Eugene M. Cummings nu64 lost his long-fought battle with cancer on July 4, 2021. He was born on April 3, 1941, to Raymond and Marcella Cummings in Princeton, Illinois. Brother Cummings is an initiate of the Northwestern University Chapter, where he earned a B.S.E.E. degree in 1963. He then attended Law School at Loyola University and graduated with a J.D. degree in 1969. Cummings was first employed in the broadcast industry as a transmitter and station engineer at a commercial 5KW AM broadcast station while in high school, and as Chief Engineer of a commercial AM broadcast station while studying electrical engineering at Northwestern. His first involvement in aviation also began at that time when he obtained his commercial pilot license. Following graduation, Cummings was employed by Zenith Radio Corporation first as a color television design engineer, then as a registered Patent Agent while attending Law School. Following graduation he accepted employment with United Airlines, where he served as a co-pilot on the Boeing 727 until he was furloughed two years later due to a downturn in airline flying. It would not be until eight years later that he would return to United, eventually becoming a Captain on the Boeing 727, while continuing to practice patent law. Gene retired from United Airlines in 2001. In 1973, Cummings left Zenith to join a Chicago-based patent law firm, becoming a partner in that firm three years later. During this time, he founded Telesonics Systems, Inc., for the purpose of developing a system for broadcasting stereo sound along with U.S. standard color television broadcasts. After extensive testing, the Telesonics system was selected over competing systems as the national standard, and after extensive litigation, was licensed to the consumer electronics industry. Brother Cummings founded Eugene M. Cummings P.C., a Chicago-based law firm engaged in the practice of intellectual property law, in 1981. The firm undertook a number of contingent fee licensing projects, including licensing DVD technology, to the consumer electronics industry. Alongside his flying and legal careers, Gene was also a successful inventor. He founded Automark Technical Systems, Inc., for the purpose of developing a voting machine having touchscreen and audio user interfaces to enable a blind or otherwise disabled voter to mark a pre-printed paper ballot. Over 50,000 Automark terminals were manufactured and sold to election jurisdictions in 37 states. Gene sold Automark to Election Systems & Software in 2008. After selling Automark, Gene saw a need in the sump pump industry. He went on to found Beacon Technical Systems. Beacon manufactures systems that test your sump pump system under real-world conditions ensuring that when it rains, your sump pump system will work. During his lifetime, Brother Cummings acquired over twenty U.S. Patents issued in his name. Gene was a strong supporter of Triangle, serving as Director of the Triangle Education Foundation from 2000 to 2014. He was honored at Triangle’s Centennial Celebration as one of Triangle’s Men of the Century. In 2011, Brother Cummings was inducted into the Triangle Wall of Fame, the highest honor bestowed on a Brother. The family requests donations be made to Triangle Education Foundation, 120 S. Center Street, Plainfield, IN 46168 or (317) 837-9641 in memory of Eugene.

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CHAPTER ETERNAL LIST

Name

Chapter Date of Code Death

Kimball Nedved ar48 1/14/20 Paul Bauer ar49 11/29/16 Melvin Wysock ar49 8/1/20 G. Harry Ashbridge ar50 4/24/21 John McCall cin48 3/3/21 F. Errol Davis Jr. cin50 10/7/18 Roger Thomas cin55 9/18/20 Tristan Britt csu16 5/15/21 Julian Spencer ill28 12/26/00 Ronald Kareken ill55 4/14/20 Michael Mallinger is64 5/26/21 Maximilian Marischen marq15 LeRoy Weinstein mich47 4/5/21 Eugene Cummings nu59 7/4/21 Richard Chipman os51 1/14/21 C. Vaughn Rotz ps50 11/3/20 Frank Krempa ps55 9/28/20 William Troutman, PhD ps55 Donald Long ps58 12/22/20 Dale Lilly ps66 4/14/20 John Wilson pur27 Robert Massey pur38 12/29/09 John Babcock rit68 3/29/21 Michael Street rit80 3/24/21 John Mercer rose67 4/21/21 Rodger Casey rose67 3/17/21 Ernest Kautz sdm49 2/21/21 Alvin Johnson sdm51 4/19/21 Ronald Lievens sdm59 6/8/21 Scott Green sdm90 6/15/21 James Cotton tol02 7/13/21 Donald Dowling wis47 12/13/19

Triangle REVIEW | Vol 110, No.2 | FALL 2021 120 S. Center Street | Plainfield, Indiana 46168-1214 NONPROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAID BOLINGBROOK, IL PERMIT NO. 467