Gene Louis Gant
November 23, 1937-July 9, 1988
Freddie Trenkler and Gene Gant
Born in Washington, D.C., Gene Gant had no amateur career to speak of. He took up skating at the age of sixteen, while attending Cardozo High School, during the Jim Crow era. Though he wanted to receive lessons, he was turned down because he was a person of colour. "A guy named Vernon Jackson and I tried all over town, but no teachers would take us," he said in a 1970 interview. While working in his father's dry-cleaning business and running a coffee shop, he studied dancing. An impromptu audition resulted in a lengthy career skating with the Ice Capades. He passed away on July 9, 1988 at the age of fifty.
Gene's obituary from the "Las Vegas Review-Journal": "Gene Louis Gant, 50, died Saturday. He was a 10-year resident of Las Vegas. An artist, he was born Nov. 23, 1937, in Washington, D.C. He is survived by his father, Louis of Washington, D.C. and sister, Barbara Epps."
*Source for inclusion: National AIDS Memorial, The Names Project Memorial Quilt
