Dr. Harvey George

of Dover, MA, age 90. Beloved husband of Irene for 36 years. Devoted father of David George of Canton, Rachel Widberg of Stoughton and Taryne Beer of Dallas, TX, children from his first marriage, grandfather of Matt and Tommy George, Jon, Sarah, Maggie and Tess Widberg, and Alex and Nate Beer. Harvey also has five great-grandchildren. Cherished brother of Samuel George of Marlboro, NJ and of his deceased sister Phoebe Herman.

Harvey is fondly remembered by family, his nephews, and friends, and by his current wife, Irene, a microbiologist whom he met while working at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. He had a lifelong interest in physical fitness and was a jogger for over 35 years. He and Irene shared interests in physical activity and enjoyed gardening, international travel, and exploring the Maine coast. They experienced numerous happy winter vacations skiing at Killington and Mount Tremblant, Canada, in the company of his brother Sam and sister-in-law Joan.

Harvey was born in New York City and grew up on a chicken farm in New Jersey. He attended Cornell University, receiving a BA in Biology, 1957, then started graduate studies in chemistry at the University of Tennessee, earning both an MS and PhD in Chemistry there. He continued his training via two consecutive postdoctoral fellowships (Tufts Medical Center and a VA Hospital in Brockton MA).

Harvey started his professional career by working on a deep space life support contract for NASA at a local bioresearch company. Sensing the increasing difficulty in obtaining research funding, his interests and career took a major shift into clinical practice. He served as the Laboratory Director for the Lahey Clinic, participating in a laboratory design for the construction of the new Lahey Clinic Medical Center. After 15 years, he sought new challenges, accepting the position of Director of Clinical Laboratories with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. He successfully moved the laboratories into automation and molecular diagnostics and accepted an early retirement “buy out” after 20 years in public health. He then began a career in forensic toxicology, participating in the establishment of Calloway Laboratories, as its laboratory director and retired for a third time in 2014. He developed a new interest, point of care testing, and worked with a NY Publishing company in organizing and speaking on point of care/critical care conferences in cities such as, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston and Summit, NJ. He subsequently started a successful private practice as a clinical laboratory director for numerous physicians’ toxicology laboratories in Massachusetts, Texas, Arizona, Washington, and Maryland. When asked if he would ever fully retire, he answered, “never”, I am having too much fun!

Harvey’s involvement with the world of medicine was extremely varied. He was a Board Certified Clinical Chemist and active member of numerous profession organizations, including the Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine (formerly AACC), the Northeast Local Section of the Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine, the American Chemical Society, American Society for Microbiology, the Northeast Branch of the American Society for Microbiology, and the New York Academy of Sciences. In addition to clinical duties, he had consulted in clinical laboratory practices and in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control, taught Quality Assurance and good public health practices to other laboratories in the United States and abroad, including Peru, Russia, and the Ukraine.

Harvey was active in community affairs and was an elected member of the Dover Board of Health for over 20 years. As chairman of the Board, he was instrumental in establishing an integrated mosquito control program that significantly reduced the incidence of chemical fogging; he was also involved with tick and deer management control programs in Dover that were modeled in the neighboring towns.

Friends and family are invited to attend a funeral service at Stanetsky Memorial Chapel, 475 Washington St., Canton, MA on Thursday, January 22, 2016, at 10 AM. Interment will follow at Highland Cemetery, 54 Centre Street, Dover, MA.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Harvey’s name may be made to the American Cancer Society, PO Box 1120, Framingham, MA 01701 or www.cancer.org