GEORGE, Dr. Fredrick William 'Fred' 1946 - 2014

GEORGE, CONGER, KUHLMAN, RICH, DERBY

Posted By: Joey Stark
Date: 10/23/2014 at 11:50:28

"The Fairfield Ledger"
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Page 6

Fredrick William GEORGE

Fredrick (Fred) William GEORGE, Ph.D., 67, died at home in Edmonds, WA on Oct. 6, 2014 where he and his wife Dianne have resided since 2001.

Fred was kind-hearted, creative, and thoughtfully opinionated. He had a wry sense of humor. He never wasted words and whenever one would do, he would never use two.

His interests were broad: he loved nature, sports, chess, crossword puzzles, poetry, music, geography, architecture and would always check out the transportation systems and comment on the urban planning (or lack thereof) of any city he visited.

Fred was born in Fairfield, IA on Dec. 16, 1946 to Andrew and Clara GEORGE of Richland, IA. He grew up in Richland, where he learned carpentry and other practical skills while working at his parents' lumber and hardware corner store.

In 1968 he married his high-school sweetheart, Dianne CONGER of Packwood, Iowa.

In 1975, Fred received his Ph.D.in Zoology from Iowa State University in Ames, IA and he and Dianne and son Tad moved to Dallas, Texas for a post-doctoral fellowship in Endocrinology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. What he thought would be a 2-year appointment turned out to be a 22-year career where he published nearly 70 articles, taught Anatomy for the Medical School, received an NIH Research Center Development Award and served on the editorial board of the journal Endocrinology.

In 1976, son Andrew was born. Fred worked long hours, but balanced work with family life. He loved being a father and his boys were his number one priority. He coached soccer and was a steadfast supporter on the sidelines for the boys at soccer, tennis, basketball and baseball games.

Fred's career was cut short in 1996 when a rare neurological disorder made it impossible for him to continue his teaching and research. The illness progressed slowly and he found silver linings. Early on he was able to provide a granddad-daycare service for his first grandson Darius. He developed new interests and hobbies as his abilities changed: swimming, photographing graffiti, riding his recumbent bike, amassing a collection of frog art, playing computer Mahjong, and sharing his computer art with his grandchildren (just to name a few).

In 2000, Fred and Dianne moved to Washington state to join his boys. He loved the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest. He enjoyed seeing his sons become young men with families and careers, marveling at their choices of life partners in Erin and Danell who brought him so much joy. He watched Mercedes and Darius blossom and excel, and welcomed two new grandsons, Rufus and Otto who gave him unlimited opportunities to laugh and smile.

Fred is survived by: his wife Dianne; sons Tad (Erin) of Seattle, WA and Andrew (Danell) of Montlake Terrace, WA; his sister Kathryn (Paul) KUHLMAN of Washington, IA; grandchildren Darius, Mercedes, Rufus and Otto; nieces Rachel, Nicole and Lindsey; nephews Seth, Bryce, Aaron and Mark; grand-dogs Beau, Nene and Hope; and grand-cats Kit-Kat and Kaiba.

He was preceded in death by: his parents Andrew and Clara GEORGE; father-in-law Warren (Frances) C0NGER; niece Anna (Jamie) RICH; and sister-in-law Janet (Terry) DERBY.

A memorial service for family and friends to celebrate Fred's life will be held November 15th, 2014 from 2:00 until 4:00 pm at the Unity Church in Lynnwood, 16727 Alderwood Mall Parkway, Lynnwood, WA 98037.

Dianne and Fred send special thanks to their family and friends who have supported them throughout as well as the kind, loving and professional care of his team at Providence Hospice and Home Care of Snohomish County.

For more information email Dianne at frog.wa@comcast.net.

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*Transcribed for genealogy purposes; I have no relation to the person(s) mentioned.