Obituary for David James George
David James George, 75, of McHenry, MD, was born on April 8th, 1947 in Beaumont, TX. Soon after birth he was moved to Parkersburg, WV where he was raised by his grandparents, Bessie Virginia Goudy, and Adam Harrison Goudy. He grew up in Parkersburg, WV. At 8th grade he moved to Athens, Ohio to live with his parents, Mildred Louise Morehead and James C. George. He went to Athens High School, Ohio. His father owned a mom and pop restaurant, called "Jimmy's". David worked in the restaurant until June 8th, 1967, when he was drafted into the Air Force. After boot camp he was assigned to the 6th Weather Wing at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland (now named Joint Base Andrew Naval Air Facility Washington) on May 11, 1968 and served until June 7th, 1971. During his service time at Andrews Base, he would provide weather service at the base and for the President of the US when the President was traveling to Camp David or Fort Ritchie as well as when the President was arriving and leaving Andrews for other destinations. This required maintaining the weather equipment which sometimes meant he had to climb high towers to reach the equipment in huge storms. This was during the Vietnam War and all the soldiers that came into Andrews were sent to Vietnam, but David was never sent. To this day it is not clear why he was never sent. David graduated from Montgomery College, Rockville, MD with an AA degree in Electronic Engineering Technician. In 1975 he started working at Carnegie Institution of Washington in D.C (now called Carnegie Science) within their science laboratories. His work lab was the Geo-Physical department. He had to learn all about the geology of rocks. During his tenure he was fortunate to be able to analyze the "first moon rocks". He also taught post and pre-doc students from Johns Hopkins University how to run a "scanning electron microscope". He supported all the geo-physical scientist laboratories by fixing problems, programming, building equipment and teaching. In 1985 he married his wife and best friend, Suzanne Harle and they lived in Kensington, MD. Suzanne and David have no children. They acted as their own General Contractor in 2000 to build their 3-bedroom one level log home in McHenry expecting to retire in Garrett County. It was not until 2007 when David retired after 32 years working at the laboratory they moved full time to Garrett County, McHenry. The reason they chose to retire in Garrett County, is because Carnegie Science in Washington D.C. owns property on Paradise Point, Deep Creek Lake. And they stayed at the lodge and cottage there for vacations. This property was donated to Carnegie Science by another robber Barron back in the day.
They joined Crossroads Church, on Garrett Highway, Route 219, in October 2007 just one month after the church started in the Garrett 8 Cinema Theater. David and Suzanne were greeters at the church and volunteered for various services and participated in many church events. They belonged to one of Crossroads Church Life Groups. He loved being a member of Crossroads Church family and those in the Life Group. In the early 1980's David was a board member of WADA-Washington Area Darts Association. He also shot darts with two teams, "Bandits" and "Derelicts" and played in Championship matches. In the mid-1990's he was a volunteer at Montgomery Community Television Inc. His volunteer work included running cameras-video/tape and later DVD digital cameras, and audio/sound board. David worked with three "live" shows, using teleprompter, audio, and cameras. The shows were "The Doctor's In", "Diana, Mike, and the Rabbi", and "Cooking Lite". On the Cooking Lite show, he accidently left red pepper on the Chocolate Chip recipe the crew joked with him and “he told them who knows it may taste very good!”. He received several annual awards, "Most Participation Technician" and "Best in Festival". He loved working with TV technical equipment as he also did in his daily work at Carnegie. He could fix anything. The scientists would bring things to him at the lab and in his spare time he would fix them. He would get great rewards for his spare time work such as tickets to Kennedy Center in D.C. or wonderful bottles of wine, movie tickets, etc. Around 1993 David started riding motorcycles again. Along with his wife Suzanne he was a support member for over 25 years in Women on Wheels Motorcycle Club. David and Suzanne also belonged to the Canoe Cruisers Club and spent many hours canoeing and kayaking in many white-water rivers in Maryland, PA., and N.Y. After retirement David volunteered to do "Court Watch" for the Dove Center in Oakland, MD. He also serviced on the board. He was extremely passionate about helping victims of domestic violence. He also volunteered for many years servicing in the kitchen at the Festival of Trees, an annual Dove Center fundraising event. When the 2014 Canoe/Kayak World Championship came to ASCI in McHenry, he volunteered to work three days for NBC TV on camera during the event. He traveled to all 50 states over his lifetime.
David is survived by sister, Bessie Margo Benrus and brother-in-law Larry Benrus, two nephews Matt Benrus wife Jennifer Norton and daughter Sloane, Eric Benrus, wife Cayla Carppella and son Banks, one niece Carley Benrus, Uncle-in-law Dale Waters, aunt Pat Goudy, cousins, Tony Goudy and wife Susan, and Troy Goudy. Preceded in death mother Mildred Morehead George, father James C. George, grandmother Bessie Goudy, grandfather Adam Goudy, uncles Gordon “Bunk” Goudy, Carl “Pete” Goudy, Harold Moorehead, Donald Goudy, aunts Grace Kelly, and Pauline “Peg” Goudy. A service will be held on May 18, 2023 at Crossroads Church, 17781 Garrett Highway, Oakland, MD 21550. The time is yet to be determined. In lieu of flowers, you may donate to "The Dove Center" or Crossroads Church in remembrance. Obituary can be found at Newman Funeral Home, Oakland MD www.newmanfuneralhomes.com. David will be buried at Rocky Gap Veterans Cemetery, Flintstone, MD when service takes place.
They joined Crossroads Church, on Garrett Highway, Route 219, in October 2007 just one month after the church started in the Garrett 8 Cinema Theater. David and Suzanne were greeters at the church and volunteered for various services and participated in many church events. They belonged to one of Crossroads Church Life Groups. He loved being a member of Crossroads Church family and those in the Life Group. In the early 1980's David was a board member of WADA-Washington Area Darts Association. He also shot darts with two teams, "Bandits" and "Derelicts" and played in Championship matches. In the mid-1990's he was a volunteer at Montgomery Community Television Inc. His volunteer work included running cameras-video/tape and later DVD digital cameras, and audio/sound board. David worked with three "live" shows, using teleprompter, audio, and cameras. The shows were "The Doctor's In", "Diana, Mike, and the Rabbi", and "Cooking Lite". On the Cooking Lite show, he accidently left red pepper on the Chocolate Chip recipe the crew joked with him and “he told them who knows it may taste very good!”. He received several annual awards, "Most Participation Technician" and "Best in Festival". He loved working with TV technical equipment as he also did in his daily work at Carnegie. He could fix anything. The scientists would bring things to him at the lab and in his spare time he would fix them. He would get great rewards for his spare time work such as tickets to Kennedy Center in D.C. or wonderful bottles of wine, movie tickets, etc. Around 1993 David started riding motorcycles again. Along with his wife Suzanne he was a support member for over 25 years in Women on Wheels Motorcycle Club. David and Suzanne also belonged to the Canoe Cruisers Club and spent many hours canoeing and kayaking in many white-water rivers in Maryland, PA., and N.Y. After retirement David volunteered to do "Court Watch" for the Dove Center in Oakland, MD. He also serviced on the board. He was extremely passionate about helping victims of domestic violence. He also volunteered for many years servicing in the kitchen at the Festival of Trees, an annual Dove Center fundraising event. When the 2014 Canoe/Kayak World Championship came to ASCI in McHenry, he volunteered to work three days for NBC TV on camera during the event. He traveled to all 50 states over his lifetime.
David is survived by sister, Bessie Margo Benrus and brother-in-law Larry Benrus, two nephews Matt Benrus wife Jennifer Norton and daughter Sloane, Eric Benrus, wife Cayla Carppella and son Banks, one niece Carley Benrus, Uncle-in-law Dale Waters, aunt Pat Goudy, cousins, Tony Goudy and wife Susan, and Troy Goudy. Preceded in death mother Mildred Morehead George, father James C. George, grandmother Bessie Goudy, grandfather Adam Goudy, uncles Gordon “Bunk” Goudy, Carl “Pete” Goudy, Harold Moorehead, Donald Goudy, aunts Grace Kelly, and Pauline “Peg” Goudy. A service will be held on May 18, 2023 at Crossroads Church, 17781 Garrett Highway, Oakland, MD 21550. The time is yet to be determined. In lieu of flowers, you may donate to "The Dove Center" or Crossroads Church in remembrance. Obituary can be found at Newman Funeral Home, Oakland MD www.newmanfuneralhomes.com. David will be buried at Rocky Gap Veterans Cemetery, Flintstone, MD when service takes place.