February 4, 1963 ~ January 28, 2007
This obituary was published on March 1, 2007, in the Rancho Santa Fe Review Weekly:
Born in Los Angeles, California, Gena moved to Rancho Santa Fe with her family in 1971. She attended Rancho Santa Fe School and graduated in the top of her class. She exceeded the graduation requirements for Torrey Pines High School and in 1980 she moved to northern California to further her education. There, Gena had the opportunity to advance her dressage training under the direction of an Olympic trainer, with her beloved horse, Naspa, and her dear friend Jocelyn.
Gena attended the University of California at Davis and moved back to Rancho Santa Fe in 1982 to complete her undergraduate studies at the University of California at San Diego. She pursued her love of riding by training horses, giving riding lessons, working at Mary’s Tack and Feed and with a local veterinarian. In 1985, she was accepted into the veterinary program at Colorado State University at Ft. Collins, Colorado, and received her doctorate in veterinary medicine in 1989.
During the following 10 years, Gena married Mike Overly, of Lyons, Colorado, established her own veterinary practice and gave birth to their daughter, Ashlynn. She continued with her love of riding horses and also developed her other passion of running.
After her divorce, Gena returned to California with her daughter in 2001 and settled in Mammoth Lakes, working as a veterinarian. In November 2002, she met her soul-mate and the love of her life, Tom Hodges. At Gena’s request, her father, Adrian, administered their marriage vows on August 24, 2003, thereby unifying their family of three daughters. In July 2006, they were delighted to learn they were pregnant with twins. Gena closed her veterinary practice at the end of December 2006 so she could focus on her life’s dream of becoming a full-time mother and wife.
In the early morning of January 17, 2007, Gena unexpectedly suffered a brain hemorrhage and was rushed to Northern Inyo Hospital where the twins were delivered by emergency C-section, Isabella Catherine at 2.7 lbs and Grayson Thomas at 3.3 lbs. Gena and Tom were immediately life flighted to Loma Linda Hospital and the twins followed soon after. On January 28, 2007 with her family and friends surrounding her with love and prayers, Gena passed away peacefully.
She is survived by her loving husband, Tom, her daughter Ashlynn Overly, Tom’s daughters Madison and Emilie, the twins, Isabella and Grayson, all of Crowley Lake, her father, Adrian, his wife Judie, and Gena’s younger siblings A.J. and Caitlin all of Rancho Santa Fe, her mother, Linda McNeill of Bishop, her brother Mark Mikulicich, and his wife, Cheryl, and their children, Lakota and Colton, all of Swall Meadows, her cousin, Mike Phillips, and his wife, Marji, of Newport Beach, and her dear friends which are too many to name.
We will all miss her incredible spirit, compassion and enthusiasm for life. She continued to maintain an innocent and enduringly positive way of looking at the world even when she was challenged with balancing the roles of a wife, mother, daughter, sister, athlete, friend, and veterinarian.
Gena and her father allowed me to take her to my senior prom. She lit up any room she entered, and as stated in her obituary, she always had an innocent and enduringly positive way of looking at the world. I’m sure her brilliant spirit lives on in her children. My condolences to her family.
Brad