George Henry Edwards

George Henry Edwards, age 91, passed away peacefully on March 23, 2023, at Tidal HealthNanticoke in Seaford, Delaware. Born in Hammond, Indiana, on February 19, 1932, he was the son of the late Samuel Finley Edwards and Eula Gertrude Gruber Edwards.

George graduated from high school in Mattoon, Illinois, in 1949, and joined the U.S. Navy with his best friend, Ken Bullock, during his sophomore year of college. Immediately, he was sent off for training in the Silver Strand near San Diego, California, and then was stationed in Takeyama and Yokosuka, Japan, before returning to Treasure Island near San Francisco, California, where he was enrolled for nine months in the U.S.N. Class ‘A’ material school in electronics technician training. He went on to complete his service as a member of the fleet aboard the USS Wantuck. Following his honorable discharge, George continued with his physics major, mathematics minor, and pre-engineering education at Eastern Illinois University, before attending and landing jobs at the Illinois and Motorola, both located in Chicago, and moving to Washington D.C. with a branch of the Cook Research Laboratory at Chesapeake Bay. While in Washington D.C., George married the love of his life, Marian, and also earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Mathematics from American University.

Known as the “perpetual student,” George continued accumulating over 120 semester hours in other college-level programs including those associated with the Master of Science in the Electrical and Computer Engineering (MSEE) program at John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and from a scattering of undergraduate courses in the fields of physics, mathematics, and software and computer technology from other accredited universities. He also completed business-related courses and training for real estate preparation and paralegal counseling.

George spent most of his early career as an electronic engineer inventing and developing circuits, equipment, and systems to thwart the operation of threat radars. He also patented, along with coinventor William Miller, an automatic frequency slewing sub-system for a model series of shipboard radars. Later in his professional life, George also assumed the role as a real estate broker holding several securities licenses, a contract technical writer for an array of San Francisco Bay area companies, a Novell Netware system administrator, and a personal computer network consultant.

Upon semi-retirement, George and Marian moved to Horry County, South Carolina, where George was known as an activist from the public in county planning and, for a time, a frequent letter-to-the-editor writer for the Myrtle Beach Sun News. In 2017, he also authored his first published book entitled Understanding Effects Across Space: Electromagnetism, Gravity, and Inertia; Extended Magnetism Edition.

Throughout his lifetime, George was a member, officer, and/or contributing writer for numerous community and civic organizations in Maryland, California, and South Carolina.

He was also a member of several professional organizations including the National Honorary Mathematics Fraternity Kappa Mu Epsilon and the High IQ Society known as Mensa.

Notwithstanding all of his professional and community-centric endeavors, George was a devoted family man whose children fondly remember him just as Dad. He was one who patiently played checkers following dinner, floated on ocean waves in Wildwood Crest for what seemed like hours, meandered through Greenbelt Park on Sunday afternoon car rides (ultimately getting lost or maybe it was just “exploring”), celebrated birthdays at Ledo’s, gave bike riding lessons, stopped at the Harrisburg McDonald’s on every family trip to Pennsylvania, ate apple pie with cheese (because “apple pie without some cheese is like a hug without a squeeze”), made a killer homemade barbeque, loved butter pecan or vanilla ice cream, hit golf balls at the driving range, bowled in a “company” league as well as found time for a game of duckpins with his girls, played tennis, protected trees, wiggled his ears, juggled about anything in his “humongous” hands, used chopsticks like a pro, and pretended he captured a bee when he actually created a mechanical device that sounded like a bee when placed inside a magazine.

George will be remembered for always being trustworthy, fair, and looking for the best in everyone. With his broad smile and deep baritone voice, George had a warm and positive spirit but would also boldly defend his loved ones and be unrelenting in doing what is right and true. He adopted and held firmly to the 1940’s Superman’s motto, “Truth, Justice, and the American Way.” George liked to engage in conversations about politics and quantum physics but equally enjoyed playing cards and board games. Growing up, his favorite book was “Black Beauty” and he spoke fondly of his dog, Trixie, and Tojo, his pet pig.

George will be missed by many on both the east and west coasts, but mostly he will be missed by his family who loved him dearly.

He is survived by his wife, Marian, the former Marian Joan Weiss of Dallas, Pennsylvania; three daughters Susan Gum (Steve) Harbeson, Delaware; Judy Edwards (Tom Peterson) Hansville, Washington; and Sandra Boul (Steve) High Point, North Carolina;, and seven grandchildren: Valerie Peterson, Stephen Peterson, Beth Boul, Alex Brenan, Bob Jerbic, Jordyn Gum, and Mallary Gum.

Military Interment Honors will be held at the Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Millsboro, followed by A Celebration of Life Memorial Service at Mt. Olivet United Methodist Church in Seaford, on July 21, 2023 at 11:00 AM.

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