George Delbert French

Obituary George D. French Husband, dad, friend, boater, outdoorsman, soccer coach, military aviator, traveler, pet lover. Mom's husband, and our father, was all those things and so much more. He gave us many gifts. Some of them were traditional gifts, such as at Christmas or other times. But there were other, more important gifts. He gave us strong genes, good health, and the moral foundation of a Catholic upbringing. Through hard work and self sacrifice, he provided for our basic needs, such as food, clothing, shelter, and education. He taught his children many things. We owe our ability to fish, drive, shoot guns and the confidence to build or repair things to him. Through him, we learned to love travel, the outdoors, and classical music They were his passions and now they are ours! He taught us the value of consistent hard work to provide for our families, the importance of responsibility, of saving money, of avoiding excessive debt, and of living within our means. He taught us to be generous with others by being generous to us. He displayed pride in the achievements of mom and his children so that we too could learn to be proud of our spouses and children. He taught us the value of racial tolerance, not so much by what he said, but by what he didn't say. He gave us great memories, too. We will not forget fishing, camping, hunting, airplane rides, a real ice igloo, tipping the wings of his airplane while flying by mom's workplace while he was courting her, water skiing, picking blueberries, playing soccer or cribbage, the practical jokes he played on us, our cross country family trip, an intimate moment he shared with his daughter at her piano, playing one last gin rummy game with his daughter on her wedding day, making chipmunk traps, or, on his last coherent night, the "River Monsters" episode. Like everyone, he had his idiosyncrasies. Who can forget his frequent change of cell phone companies and internet service providers? Or his viewing of Animal Planet when we wanted to watch something else? Or his unwillingness to wear his hearing aid? Like other families we too found these idiosyncrasies to be frustrating at times. But through them he also taught us. We learned the value of patience, of listening to others, and to avoid certain behaviors. Together, these gifts, values, passions, and memories gave each member of our family a strong foundation. They enriched our lives and helped us successfully meet life's challenges to this point. They helped us deal with his illness and his very quick passing. Now they will help our family deal with our grief! The last four days of dad's life were spent at the Franciscan Hospice House. He passed there under their loving and capable care and that of the Group Health Hospice Team. He was surrounded by wife of 62 years, four of his children, one grand child, one son-in-law and one daughter-in-law. We should all be so lucky! God bless you dad! Even though it has only been a few days, we miss you already! Your loving family Kay, Sandi, Mark, Chris, Angela and Paula