After my Whipple procedure last June, anything I ate came back up. An NG tube was installed to clear my stomach so the food wouldn't just sit and rot. I wasn't hungry. I was put on a TPN IV to provide nutrition. Surgery was June 25th. My stomach wouldn't pass any food until August 12th. TPN was discontinued and an NJ feeding tube installed. 6 cartons (250 ml) of feeding media was pumped into that tube daily until Dec 23rd. I was able to eat beginning in mid-November. Returning to the point, I still wasn't hungry and would have happily just wasted away without encouragement to eat. I overcame that indifference in late December and I'm eating "normally" now.
Gene may have be similarly indifferent to the need to eat. Assuming his wife passed Feb 11th, he lost that external source of food and encouragement to eat.
Glad you made it through the medical challenges! Recognized your username from when you left Cali for Idaho. I can’t believe it was that long ago!