VAN BUREN COUNTY, MI — Driving on M-43 between Kalamazoo and Lake Michigan ... The owner of the iconic attraction, Gene Rhodes — affectionally known as “Gene the Pumpkin Man” — died ...

He was a 1950 graduate of Plainwell High School and a 1954 graduate of Western Michigan University. After serving as a commissioned officer in the US Army in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, Gene ...