John Bennet George (1920 - 2007)

Born 29 Feb 1920 in Newport News, Virginia, United States

Ancestors

Son of Charles Edwin George and Grace Sharp (Bowman) George

Descendants

Died 4 Jul 2007 at age 87 in Rome, Floyd, Georgia, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Bennet George [send private message]

Biography

John George served in the United States Army in World War II
Service started: 12 Jun 1944
Unit(s): 12th Armored Division
Service ended:

John Bennet "Jack" George was born 29 Feb 1920 in Newport News, Virginia, United States^[1] to Charles Edwin and Grace Bowman George. Charles and Grace had immigrated to the United States about 1913. Jack was in the first generation to be born in America.

He was a leap-year baby. In later years his children would joke with him that they were older than he because they had had more birthdays.^[2]

Jack grew up in the village of Craddock, at that time a part of Norfolk, Virginia (now Portsmouth), along the Elizabeth River. While in high school he worked in the butcher shop of the A&P grocery store. He learned to play the violin and the clarinet. He was good enough at the violin to play with the Norfolk Symphony Orchestra in the early 1940's.^[3]

After high school Jack entered the apprentice program to become an electrician and by 1940 was working at the Norfolk Navy Yard.^[4]

He met Augusta "Gus" Finch who was working as a secretary for the Marine unit stationed at the shipyard. She had moved to Portsmouth from the family farm in North Carolina to help the war effort. Jack and Gus married 4 July 1943.^[5]

Jack had been exempted from military service during World War II because he was building war ships but eventually he was inducted into the Army. He served in the 12th Armored Division in Italy, France and Germany. At the end of the war he stayed in Germany with the occupation forces.^[6]

Jack and Gus returned to peacetime activities and had a son, Bennet, in 1948. In the fall of 1948 they moved to Blacksburg, Virginia, where Jack enrolled at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. He graduated in 1951 with a degree in electrical engineering and accepted a position with General Electric at a factory which made transformers in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

In 1954 Jack and Gus had a daughter, Susan, and soon moved to Rome, Georgia, where Jack was transferred by GE to work in a new factory. He built a house which included built-in furniture and analog "smart home" features. He would live there the rest of his life.^[2]

Jack played violin with the Rome Symphony Orchestra for a while and was active with Habitat for Humanity after retirement, building houses for the disadvantaged. He was very much a handyman around his own house, spending much time in his workshop. He was always busy.^[2]

Jack and Gus enjoyed traveling and visited each of the U.S. states.^[2]

In 2007 Jack succumbed to pneumonia resulting from being bedridden due to back pain which came from cutting down a large tree in the yard at the age of 87 and digging up the roots by hand.^[2] Jack died in Rome 4 July 2007,^[7] on his 64th wedding anniversary, with Gus and his children at his side.^[2]

He is buried in East View Cemetery in Rome.^[8]

Sources

1. ↑ Ancestry.com. Virginia, Birth Records, 1912-2014, Delayed Birth Records, 1854-1911 [database on-line], citing Virginia, Births, 1864–2014. Virginia Department of Health, Richmond, Virginia. Ancestry Record 9277 #351418. John Bennet George, 29 Feb 1920, Elizabeth City [County], Virginia, USA.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5} First-hand knowledge entered by Bennet George.
3. ↑ Information given verbally by John George to his son Bennet.
4. ↑ "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VRBK-3P6 : 14 March 2018), John B George in household of Charles E George, Deep Creek Magisterial District, Norfolk, Virginia, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 65-3B, sheet 17A, line 14, family 362, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 4279.
5. ↑ "Virginia, Marriage Certificates, 1936-1988," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK9N-CF4S : 10 January 2019), John Bennet George and Augusta Lois Finch, 04 Jul 1943; from "Virginia, Marriage Records, 1700-1850," database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2012); citing Norfolk, Virginia, United States, certificate 16294, Virginia Department of Health, Richmond.
6. ↑ "United States World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KMV3-827 : 5 December 2014), John B George, enlisted 12 Jun 1944, Cp Lee, Virginia, United States; citing "Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938-1946," database, The National Archives: Access to Archival Databases (AAD) (http://aad.archives.gov : National Archives and Records Administration, 2002); NARA NAID 1263923, National Archives at College Park, Maryland. Serial Number: 33822072.
7. ↑ "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JGLH-6M9 : 19 May 2014), John B George, 04 Jul 2007; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
8. ↑ Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 24 February 2019), memorial page for John Bennet George (29 Feb 1920–4 Jul 2007), Find A Grave: Memorial #71733085, citing East View Cemetery, Rome, Floyd County, Georgia, USA ; Maintained by B George (contributor 47859622).

See, also:

• Paternal and maternal relationship is confirmed with an AncestryDNA test match between Bennet George and his first cousin, J. Jenkins. Their MRCAs are their grandparents, Charles Edwin George and Grace Sharp Bowman. Predicted relationship reported by AncestryDNA: 1st Cousins based on sharing 676 cM across 39 segments; Confidence: Extremely High.
• "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:CFSL-MMM : accessed 24 February 2019), John B George in household of Charles E George, Deep Creek, Norfolk, Virginia, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 4, sheet 23B, line 98, family 565, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 2452; FHL microfilm 2,342,186.
• "1950 United States Census," Enumeration District 61-13, Montgomery County, Virginia, United States, Sheet 11, Line 20, Augusta F. George. Link