Obituary of Clarence W. George

Clarence, known to many as "Budge", passed away peacefully in the presence of family. Budge was born in Los Angeles-CA, graduating from University High School in LA, and then graduating from the University of California at Santa Barbara with a major in Early Childhood Education. His parents were Eva B. and Clarence W. George Sr. of Santa Barbara. He is survived by his beloved wife of 67 years, Jane Katherine, his 4 children, their spouses, 2 granddaughters, 2 nieces, 1 nephew and their families. A life-long pacifist, he worked for peace and social justice as well as protecting the environment. He had a passion for learning and the educational process, serving as President of the school board in Oakhurst, CA. He enjoyed working with his hands and the process of creating. He built his own boat and enjoyed many hours rowing around the Santa Barbara harbor. He was always interested in cars, boats and especially motorcycles, and enjoyed working on them in his shop. He found pleasure in creating and fixing things, and took on many projects for others. His professional background took him from commercial fishing, tree work, construction, logging, restaurant owner, workshop manager and interim director at Alpha School, school teacher at Peabody Elementary, to special programs instructor/administrator. While most of his life was spent in Southern California, he taught school in Barrow, Alaska for 14 years before retiring in 1983. He enjoyed traveling throughout the world with significant time being spent on the Hawaiian Islands. He appreciated the slower pace of Hawaiian life, as well as, its wonderful climate. A memorial service and celebration of his life will be held on January 14th, 2012 at 1:00 PM. The location will be the Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Congregation at 820 North Fairview Ave., Goleta, California 93117. Donations in lieu of flowers can be made to the Santa Barbara Food Bank and Casa Esperanza.