George Andrew Marcinko Sr.

George had a loud and commanding voice that made you stand up and take notice. He liked his music loud and swinging, and he never missed an opportunity to tell his kids to turn down their music if it interfered with the enjoyment of his own. He was focused in his wants and needs, which usually resulted in a medium rare steak and his favorite drink, the Gin Martini. He loved traveling across the country for his job, with an added emphasis on San Francisco, his favorite stop. When his son Patrick was asked to join the SMU Mustang Band in college, he went all in for SMU football and basketball. This included following the team to away games, with Mary by his side, for years even after Patrick’s graduation. An avid and diehard Pittsburgh Steelers fan, he was always at odds with Dallas-area work colleagues and friends during the intense era of the Steelers-Cowboys rivalry. He never wavered in his support of the Steelers whether a good season or bad.

Time with family was his priority, highlighted by summer trips to the Texas coast with his grandkids. He loved attending their soccer, tennis and football games as well. Holidays were a family affair with huge family spreads for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. He never missed an opportunity to celebrate his family whether it was a wedding, graduation, or birth of a grandchild. These affairs often included friends and even local college and university students who could not make it home for the holidays.

Born September 1, 1935, to Andrew George Marcinko and Irene Balog Marcinko in South Greensburg, Pa., George graduated from Greensburg High School in 1953. He played the trumpet in his high school band. Following graduation from high school, he formed The Tommy Edwards Band and played dance music at weddings and parties to put himself through college. When he wasn’t playing in the band, he worked at any job he could find to pay college costs, including the ITE factory floor where his father was employed. In 1957, he became the first of his family to graduate from college, earning a bachelor’s degree in accounting from St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa.

George met the love of his life, Mary Orsinger, in high school and the couple were married September 14, 1957, following his graduation from St. Vincent. It was then that George embarked on a career with the U.S. Treasury Department that lasted 33 years. He and Mary moved often, from Greensburg, Pa., to Johnstown, Pa., then Kittanning, Pa., and then to Washington, D.C., picking up five kids along the way. Then in 1970, with Mary and the passel of kids in tow, he moved to St. Louis, Mo., and finally to Richardson, Texas, in 1974. George retired from the U.S. Treasury Department in 1990 with, of course, another family celebration. He then spent several years assisting his eldest son, George, at his automotive shop in Grand Prairie, Texas. George and Mary also traveled often, including regular trips to Memphis, Tn., to support their son Andy, who coached soccer for Rhodes College.

The soundtrack of the Marcinko home was the music of the Big Band era, including Stan Kenton and his jazz orchestra — George’s favorite — along with jazz drummer Buddy Rich, trumpeter Maynard Ferguson, clarinetist Woody Herman, Glenn Miller and other popular bands of the times. The music George loved is fast, furious and above all unpredictable. Think George and Mary, with five boys, careening, with a touch of controlled chaos, through their days, as families often do. It was a good ride. George is the brass improvisation and Mary is the steady back beat and glue that binds while never wavering in her devotion to him.

This music is also the sweetness of life in a comfortable chair with the Gin Martini in hand after a hard day’s work. George showed his sons the value of hard work and the reward of kicking back with a good meal and plenty of wine. He enjoyed the richness of life — drinks with friends, fine food, sights and sounds of new places, prayer and hard-edged beliefs and then some more fine food and drink. He was very proud of his family, sons, daughters-in-law, grandchildren and those friends he and Mary adopted along the way. He relished their achievements and supported them through hard times.

George was a devout Catholic and a founding member of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Richardson. While in Kittanning, he was very active at St. Mary Church. He sang in the men’s choir, helped organize the annual bazaar and represented St. Mary’s at the diocesan meetings. He taught CCD at St. Rita Catholic Church in Alexandria, Va., and worked the bazaars at Assumption-Mattese Catholic Church in St. Louis. For their 50th wedding anniversary, he took his beloved Mary to Rome for the celebration of Christmas Eve Mass at the Vatican. They also enjoyed a day trip to Florence and some very personal time with David by Michelangelo. Both he and Mary were very active with the SMU Mustang Club, and he never missed a chance to talk you into a donation on behalf of the university. In addition, he belonged to the Elks in Kittanning, Pa.

Jazz is special art — sometimes it doesn’t make sense in the moment, and only when considering the song as a whole, the emotions it evokes, the beginning and the end, can we see the meaning. But only by being in the moment can we enjoy it, without expectation or preconceived notions of what comes next. Sometimes, like jazz, life doesn’t resolve, it just stops. And in the silence, the echo of a commanding voice and a larger-than-life personality and presence remain even after the final note has passed. George will be missed for his quick wit, gregarious personality and sense of humor by all who knew him.

George is preceded in death by his parents; sister, Mary Alice Marcinko; daughter-in-law Mary A. Champion; and brother-in-law Eugene Orsinger.

He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Mary Orsinger Marcinko; children George Jr. and wife Marianne, Andrew, Patrick and wife Monica, Terrence, Timothy and wife Sharon and Gwen McWilliams and husband Tom; seven beautiful grandchildren, two step-grandchildren, one great-grandchild and two step-great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his brother, Edward T. Marcinko, and in-laws Monica and Carmen Rosatti, Regis and Maureen Orsinger and Donna Orsinger, along with ample nieces and nephews. In addition, he leaves many close friends whom he considered family.

The patience and gentle care he received from the staff in the Intermediate Care Unit at Methodist Richardson Medical Center was remarkable. This was followed by the same level of patience and care at Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Richardson.

A funeral mass will be held at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Richardson on Friday, December 27 at 1:30 pm. In lieu of flowers, the family asks friends to consider a gift to the Orsinger-Marcinko Scholarship Fund at St. Vincent College.

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