Eugene "Gene" S. Selvage (1896–1993) was the owner of Lucky Lager Brewing Company and a founder of the

Lucky International Open The Lucky International Open was a PGA Tour event in the 1960s in San Francisco, California. It was played at Harding Park Golf Club, a public course across Lake Merced from the more glamorous Olympic Club. One of the founders and sponsors of th ...

Personal life

Eugene Selvage was born in

Eureka, California Eureka (Wiyot: ''Jaroujiji'', Hupa: ''do'-wi-lotl-ding'', Karuk: ''uuth'') is the principal city and county seat of Humboldt County in the Redwood Empire region of California. The city is located on U.S. Route 101 on the shores of Humboldt ...

, on August 26, 1896. He was the son of Thomas H. Selvage, a Republican California State senator and Luna M. Shattuck Selvage. In 1917, Eugene enlisted in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, was commissioned a

naval aviator Naval aviation is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases. Naval aviation is typically projected to a position nearer the target by way of an aircraft carrier. Carrier-based a ...

, with the rank of ensign, and continued in the service until August 1919. A graduate of the

University of California, Berkeley School of Law The University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (commonly known as Berkeley Law or UC Berkeley School of Law) is the law school of the University of California, Berkeley, a public research university in Berkeley, California. It is one of 1 ...

, he practiced law after the war. Selvage married Jeanne Sexsmith and they had two children, Marilyn Jeanne and Jeannette Lorraine. He is survived by his five grandchildren Jeanne Wise, Dan and Tom Avila, and Geoff and James Hancock and great-grandchild Marilyn Wendt. Selvage was an avid sportsman, and achieved amateur standing in skeet-shooting and golfing. He also owned Lucky Livestock Company and Lucky Hereford Ranch in

Gilroy, California Gilroy is a city in Northern California's Santa Clara County, south of Morgan Hill and north of San Benito County. Gilroy is the southernmost city in the San Francisco Bay Area, with a population of 56,766 as of the 2019 U.S. Census Projection ...

Lucky Lager Brewing Company

Selvage was the founder and owner of the General Brewing Company, which produced

Lucky Lager Lucky Lager is an American lager with U.S. brewing and distribution rights held by the Pabst Brewing Company. Originally launched in 1934 by the San Francisco-based General Brewing Company, Lucky Lager grew to be one of the prominent beers of ...

. The General Brewing Company was incorporated in California in 1933 and headquartered in San Francisco. General Brewing became the Lucky Lager Brewing Company in 1948 and began building and acquiring new breweries throughout the Western states. Under Selvage's leadership as owner and CEO, Lucky Lager achieved phenomenal growth in the 1950s, and for more than a decade Lucky Lager beer was the sales leader in the entire West."Eugene Selvage Retires As President of Lucky Lager". ''Humboldt Standard''. March 3, 1961: Pg. 9. In 1961, Selvage retired as CEO, but was retained to serve as chairman of the board. Selvage served as president of the California Brewers Association.

Lucky International Open

Selvage was a founder of the

. An avid golfer and fan, Selvage believed that the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

should play a major role in professional golf. He sponsored the Lucky International Open via his company throughout the 1960s, until the tournament disbanded in 1969. Selvage was close friends and an early sponsor of Masters champion

George Archer George William Archer (October 1, 1939 – September 25, 2005) was an American professional golfer who won 13 events on the PGA Tour, including one major championship, the Masters in 1969. Early years Born in San Francisco, California, Arch ...

. In fact, Archer received his nickname "Golfing Cowboy" as a result of a summer job in his youth spent at Selvage's Lucky Hereford Ranch.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Selvage, Eugene 1896 births 1993 deaths United States Navy personnel of World War I Businesspeople from San Francisco American drink industry businesspeople UC Berkeley School of Law alumni 20th-century American businesspeople