DR. RICHARD L. GEORGE Dr. Richard Lamar George died, in his sleep, early on Friday December 21, 2012, at his home in Columbus, Mississippi. He was 93 years old. His Memorial Service was held at St. Pauls Episcopal Church on Sunday, December 23, 2012. Dr. George was born on May 20, 1919, in Macon, Mississippi to E. T. George Sr. and Hazel Scales George. He graduated, as Valedictorian, from Macon High School and attended The University of Maryland and Mississippi State University before completing an undergraduate degree in Business and Economics from The University of Mississippi. Upon graduation, he moved to Memphis, TN and began his work career as an office manager for General Motors. Within six months he was bored with a desk job and in 1942 he went to Washington and began a more interesting stint in the Executive offices of President Roosevelt as a personal technician setting up war agencies. During his time in Washington, he worked for such notable characters as, Nelson Rockefeller, Walter Chrysler and Jock Hay Whitney. From the Presidents office, he joined the Air Force, and was sent to Miami Beach, Florida for basic training with a wooden rifle. Due to poor eye sight, he was assigned a job stateside placing soldiers with minor disabilities in appropriate positions within the services. It was during this time that he became interested in medicine. While in the service, he became licensed psychiatric social worker and was assigned to Waterman General Hospital near Indianapolis, Indiana where he worked with returning soldiers until the end of WWII. Dr. George married a childhood sweetheart, Margaret Baskerville Holman, between Sunday school and church, while on furlough in 1943. Following his military service and a few years as a counselor with the Veterans Administration, they moved to Oxford, MS where she taught school and began putting him through medical school. He completed his medical degree at the University of TN and did his internship at the John Gaston Hospital in Memphis. In 1956 the couple settled in Columbus where Dr. George opened a practice in general and family medicine. He was a Columbus Air Force physician and flight examiner during the Viet Nam Conflict. He served as the university doctor at MUW 1965 to 1975 and was the doctor for both the city and county jails for 25 years. Dr. George was most proud of being an Eagle scout and a scout leader for the Rotary Club sponsored troop. He was a life member of Kappa Alpha Fraternity, the Mississippi Medical Association, a founding member of the Mississippi Academy of Family Physicians, and a tree farmer. He was a member of St. Pauls Episcopal church and regularly attended Sunday school classes at First Baptist and First Methodist churches. He loved swimming, canoeing, white water rafting, academic studies and foreign travel. He was true Renaissance Man. He was predeceased by his parents, his two older brothers and his wife of 68 years. He is survived by his daughter, Rachel George of Columbus, four nephews, three nieces and a host of third and fourth generation children. Memorials may be made to the Columbus Humane Society Building Fund (P. O Box 85; Columbus, MS 39703), Palmer Home for Children (P.O. Box 746; Columbus, MS 39703), or St. Pauls Episcopal Church ( 318 College Street; Columbus, MS 39701).
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