A doctor, sailor, and world traveler, George died May 3, 2015.
He was born in Reading, Pa., and came to Princeton from Wyomissing (Pa.) High School. At Princeton, George joined Tower, was in the marching band and concert band, and ran track. He earned a medical degree at Harvard and, after completing his internship and residency in Boston, served as an Army captain in Alabama and Germany.
After studying vascular surgery under Dr. Michael DeBakey at Baylor University, George came back to New Jersey to practice vascular and general surgery. He pioneered aneurysm surgery at Underwood Memorial Hospital in Woodbury.
Even in his first years after Princeton, George was exploring the world. He climbed Switzerland’s Matterhorn in 1954 and the Grossglockner, the highest peak in Austria, in 1955. Later he trekked the Himalayas and Mount Kilimanjaro, traveled to Machu Picchu, visited Easter Island, and walked the Great Wall of China. Water sports were another major activity, from whitewater rafting on the Colorado River to sailing the Greek Islands and the Caribbean. He and a partner invented and marketed inflatable battens for sails. Church and family were always the center of George’s life.
He leaves his wife, Gunnlaug; two daughters; five grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. His daughter Karin predeceased him.