George White

My good friend George White died late last night.  I served on the Township Planning Commission with George, almost always agreed with him on political issues, made bean soup with him at the Big Creek Grange, used his mulberries to make jelly, and appreciated that he was certainly the most faithful reader of this blog.  

I learned a great deal about him when I edited a portion of his memoirs he completed a few years ago.  I think he wrote them mostly for his family, but I’ll just say that George led an interesting life when he was a young lad, and “interesting” doesn’t cover it.

He sometimes annoyed me.  I would be still be waiting to plant my peas when he would tell me that he and his wife Marie ate their first peas at supper that night.

George was an amateur vintner.  It was more of a calling than a hobby.  He and Marie drove to the Finger Lakes region to buy large containers of grape juice, but he made all sorts of fruit wine, much of it excellent.  He brought along samples of his product to the Kibler School summer events and was generous with the pour.

Before my Dad died, he said one of the hardest things about being old was that so many of your good friends died before you did.  I know exactly what he meant.  My sympathies go out to Marie and to his extended family.