George Andrew Foster, Jr.

"If there are no cigars in heaven, I shall not go. Mark Twain. George Andrew Foster, Jr., a native of Pollock, Louisiana, and resident of Baton Rouge since 1946, passed away April 19, 2018, at the age of 94. He was born January 8, 1924, the youngest child of George A. Foster, Sr. and Claudia Foster. Life in small town North Louisiana involved mostly outdoor activities including fishing and his all-time favorite pastime of duck hunting. He graduated from Pollock High School in 1941. Since his dad thought he "hadn't learned anything," he was sent to Georgia Military Academy (GMA) in the Fall of '41 to further his education before college. He excelled in sports, playing football, basketball and baseball, and was named the GMA athlete of the year in 1941-42. He turned down a scholarship to play football at the University of Georgia when World War II broke out, and instead enlisted in the Army Air Corps. A broken ankle after the War kept him from playing baseball at LSU. During WWII, he served in Australia, New Guinea, on Leyte Island in the Philippines, and at the City of Manila as a supply man with the Army Air Corps. He received the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations Ribbon with two Bronze Campaign Stars and the Philippine Liberation Ribbon with one Campaign Star. After his honorable discharge, he returned home and began college at LSU in 1946. In 1949, he began his professional career with Guaranty Income Life Insurance Company (GILICO), eventually rising to President/CEO and Chairman of the Board of GILICO and Guaranty Corporation. Always willing to take a calculated risk, he purchased WAFB-TV Ch. 9 in 1964 and began Guaranty Broadcasting. He sold WAFB in 1988 and began purchasing radio stations across America, owning as many as 12 at one time. He was named the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters Broadcaster of the Year in 2011. His career at Guaranty spanned 69 years. So many people he worked with through the years credit him with enriching their lives professionally and personally. He also served as Chairman of the Board at Baton Rouge Bank and spent many years on the Board at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center. He was a quiet and humble man who believed strongly in loyalty, hard work, patience and speaking only when necessary. His favorite saying, which sums him up perfectly, was, "The cowards never started and the weak died along the way." He was an avid reader, especially loving books which pertained to the old west and Winston Churchill. He was a great fan of LSU athletics and a member of LSU's Top 100. He especially DISLIKED Alabama, Ole Miss, Tommy Tuberville, Notre Dame, Tulane and Texas A&M. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Darlene Foster, five children Georgianne Foster, George A. Foster, III and wife Lisa, Fran Aslam and husband Aamer, Flynn Foster and wife Dana, Fae Foster and a daughter in law Sheri Galyean. He is also survived by six grandchildren, Landon Foster, Luke Foster, Savannah Hofman, Hayes Hofman, Camren Aslam and Miriam Aslam and numerous nieces, nephews, great and great-great nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by a daughter, Felisha Foster, his parents and two sisters, Marjorie Malone and Joe Balfour. Visitation will take place at Rabenhorst Funeral Home, 825 Government St., Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Sunday, April 22, from 4:00PM until 7:00PM. Visitation will resume at Broadmoor Baptist Church, 9755 Goodwood Boulevard, Baton Rouge, LA, on Monday, April 23, at 10:00AM until funeral services at 11:00AM. Burial will follow immediately at Greenoaks Memorial Park. A reception at Greenoaks will immediately follow burial. Pallbearers will be Landon Foster, Luke Foster, Camren Aslam, Hayes Hofman, Aamer Aslam and Matt Purser. Bridger Eglin, the Guaranty Corporation Board of Directors and all Guaranty employees will serve as honorary pallbearers. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to The ALS Association Louisiana-Mississippi Chapter.