Gene Tovey’s funeral is going to be so Gene Tovey.

The longtime Columbus retailer, who also was known for his sense of humor and community involvement, died Friday at Hospice of South Central Indiana. He was 82.

His trademark sense of humor guided his family in making preparations for his funeral with staff members of Jewell-Rittman Family Funeral Home on 25th Street. The funeral home is in a building that previously housed the family-owned shoe store he operated.

Even more ironic are the times for calling and the service itself. Visitation will be from 1:01 to 5:05 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home and from 10:10 a.m. until the start of services at 11:11 a.m. Monday at First Christian Church.

“The kids knew Gene would have loved it,” his widow, Pat, said about the unusual schedule. “That’s the way he scheduled things. He had this theory that if you scheduled something on the hour people might forget about it, but by adding a few minutes to either side of the hour, they’d sure keep it in mind. He even did that when we were inviting people for dinners or parties.”

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