Eugene Meltsner

Eugene Heronamus Meltsner is a major character in Adventures in Odyssey, voiced by Will Ryan. A long-time employee at Whit's End, Eugene is the local "genius", having a reputation for erudition and a fondness for trivia. His most distinctive feature as a character is his unusual and remarkable speech patterns, almost always utilizing the most complex sentence structure, extensive vocabulary and esoteric technical terminology possible to explain any idea on any occasion. He may be considered a caricature of Asperger syndrome: absolute uncompromising technical knowledge, efficiency and competence at the expense of personal and social graces. "To borrow the colloquialism," as he would say, Eugene is a geek. Major plot arcs involving Eugene include his conversion to Christianity, his courtship, engagement, and marriage to Katrina Shanks and the search for his father.

Eugene first entered Odyssey in the episode #51: “Connie, Part 1”, when Connie Kendall, fellow employee, went to California. After a rather confusing introduction, Eugene was hired, and stayed on even after Connie's return.

Eugene attended Campbell County Community College, and was a professor of computer science in A Penny Earned He finally became a Christian when he felt an incredible sense of loss when Regis Blackgaard was taking over Whit's End during #330: “The Time Has Come”.

Although their relationship was rough, Eugene finally married his sweetheart Katrina, first at her father's deathbed, and again for all their friends in Odyssey.

Eugene disappeared from Odyssey for a great deal of time, all the way from #484: “Plan B, Part 1: Missing in Action” to #564: “A Most Intriguing Question”, in which he made a rather unusual entrance back into the world of Odyssey. (The episodes in which he appeared during this hiatus were clipped together from other episodes.) While continuing work on his radio wave program, he accidentally wiped out his memory of everything that happened in Odyssey. It was later restored after Mr. Whittaker made some changes to the Imagination Station, and (as it began to seem like he would never recover his memory) prayed with Eugene immediately afterwards. In the end, Whit, though acknowledging that the Imagination Station may have played a relatively small role, gave the credit to God.

In the more recent episodes, Eugene's adventures in Africa result in Eugene coming into contact with his father, Leonard Meltsner, who he thought was dead. He also discovers that he has a brother still living, Everett Meltsner, who was kidnapped from his father by his father's nemesis, at age 2, Dalton Kearn. Dalton is ultimately brought down by Eugene and his friends in the episodes entitled “The Top Floor, Part 1”.

After being dive-bombed by birds who wanted his hair for their nests, Eugene finally got a hair cut. But listeners still have one question: "How could Eugene see through all that hair?"

[edit] Family

Eugene's mother died in Africa, his father Leonard is still alive serving as a missionary in Africa along with Eugene's younger brother Everett. His grandfather's name was Hirim, unfortunately he has also passed away. Eugene's is married to Katrina Meltsner, in To Mend or Repair we learned that they are unable to have children. Eugene is a grandson to a 3rd cousin of Bernard Walton.

[edit] Things you may not know about Eugene

He can sleep standing up.
Eugene created an unsuccessful ice cream flavors radish and green bean. (#379: “Best Face Forward”)
He organizes his vests by occasion.
He disintegrated a bathtub when he was 6 while trying to invent a new cleaning solution.
Eugene has a phobia of needles.(#599: “Blood, Sweat, and Fears”)
His favorite vest has a tortoise shell print and he likes it because it makes him feel like an amphibian.(#610: “Hear Me, Hear Me”)
His favorite book is Lactic Acid Bacteria Microbiological and Functional Aspects Third Edition. (#610: “Hear Me, Hear Me”)
He once was a missionary to Africa with his wife Katrina.
When he was 10, Eugene's favorite temperature was 68 degrees.
Eugene's foster parents were Frank and Maddie Burnette.
He owns a lot of dinosaur figures.
He used to raise goldfish.
He was nicknamed "Short Stuff" in high school.
He is always losing his keys.
He weighs about 117 pounds, and is 6 feet 2 inches.
Eugene's camp nickname was Goggles. (#583: “The Champ of the Camp”)
Eugene went to high school at age 9 and college at age 13. (#405: “The Graduate”)
Eugene was the pilot of a plane that crashed seven years prior to #679: “The Green Ring Conspiracy, Part 1”.
Eugene has a brother, Everett, who supposedly died in Africa when he was 2, (#596: “Cover of Darkness”) He found him again in (#612: “The Top Floor, Part 2”)
Eugene once wanted a micro scope but got a plastic turtle instead.
Eugene wants a tire pressure gauge for Christmas. (“Grandma's Christmas Visit”)
Eugene plays guitar. (“Grandma's Christmas Visit”) and ukelele (“Scattered Seeds”)
Eugene wears a size 27 pants. (#610: “Hear Me, Hear Me”)
In #51: “Connie, Part 1”Eugene says that he hates nicknames, but he now says Whit.
Eugene invented a shocking device to keep his parents out of the fridge while they were dieting, He also made a shocking device for the cash register at Whit's End.(#113: “Suspicious Minds”)
Eugene knows French, Greek and a little Spanish.
Eugene once tried to grow a mustache.
People sometimes mistake his name for "Hubert." He was once calld Gene Malstin.
Eugene likes old-fashioned carnivals, besides the freak show displays, they remind him too much of his first year in middle school #679: “The Green Ring Conspiracy, Part 1”.
Eugene's best pitching speed was 61 mile per hour (“Child's Play”).
Eugene once shaved his head Album 51: Take it From the Top
Eugene's father is still alive.
When Eugene first proposed to Katrina she said no.
He is the president of the Odyssey Historical Society (A Class Reenactment).
Eugene and Katrina can't have children.
Eugene's password for his answering machine is his favorite prime number (A New Era, Part 3)
His eyes are periwinkle blue.
He is 6 feet 2 inches
His favorite saying is "Greetings and salutations!"
Eugene is an accomplished Thespian.