February 5, 1937 - November 26, 2020
George passed away from a viral pneumonia on November 26, 2020, at the Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria, BC. George was pre-deceased by his wife Margot in 1988.
George was born in Walsall, Staffordshire, England, where he was first in the family to go to Queen Mary's Grammar School. He was a prefect, head boy, senior cadet, captain of the 1st XV rugby team.
George was the first in the family to go to university, to study forestry at the University of Aberdeen, in Scotland. He met his future wife, Margot, while studying there. He earned his PhD in Forestry at the University of Washington, in Seattle, USA.
Upon completion of his PhD, George, and his family, moved to Victoria to work at the Pacific Forest Research Centre. He worked at the PFRC for 30 years, making many contributions in his study of various tree species, including a chapter on Abies (in the Pine family) in the definitive textbook, The Woody Plant Seed Manual, published by the US Department of Agriculture. He also chaired the International Union of Forest Research Organizations' Research Group into Seed Physiology and Technology.
You can find a list of George's publications here:
https://ftb.ca/pieces/literature.php#literature-publications
George found the second love of his life in his partner Eleanor. They shared a love of the outdoors, dogs, and music, and spent many wonderful years together at Shawnigan Lake, and at Balfour on Kootenay Lake.
"A beautiful human who gave so much during his time on this Earth."
George is survived by his partner Eleanor, son Ewan, daughter Fiona, son Alasdair, grandchildren James, Lauren, Madisyn, Zenaeh, step- grandchildren Emily, Jeffrey, Blake, great-grandchild Mitchell, step-great-grandchild Karmalla.
Due to Covid restrictions, a virtual service was held December 5, 2020. A recording of the service is available: https://ftb.ca/