George Andrew Sedlock

January 22, 1928 – October 22, 2011

Beating the odds, George Sedlock of Bellevue passed away after more than a 2 year struggle with brain cancer at age 83.

He was born and grew up in Cleveland, OH. He graduated from Berea High School in 1946 and married Norma Livengood in 1947. After a stint in the army and attending Case Western Reserve University, he spent his entire career in the container box industry.

In 1966, George jumped at the chance to move to the Northwest as the General Manager of the Container Corporation of America plant in Renton. He knew of the beauty of this area after spending his army basic training at Ft. Lewis. He purchased Ridgeway Packaging Corporation, built and ran the company until he sold it when he retired at 55.

It was then that he followed his real passion: horse racing. True to the prediction made in his high school yearbook, he owned and raced thoroughbreds. In 1982, he and his wife founded G&N Thoroughbreds and owned many of the most successful horses in Washington during the 80’s and 90’s. Military Hawk remains as the horse with second highest in state earnings. Favorite horses over the years included Colonel Stevens, Marketal, Erin’s Lord, and Cadet Stevens. George was instrumental in establishing Emerald Downs as an initial investor and used his numerical ability to calculate the purses during the early days.

Missing the Cleveland Browns, and before Seattle had a professional football team to root for, George became an avid Husky football fan. He went on to support many other UW sports. He and Norma could be found courtside at the women’s basketball games and he took great joy in the women’s softball NCAA championship.

His other interests included photography and he took many professional quality shots of some of his favorite subjects: barns, Mt. Rainier and of course, horses. He owned over 40 cars during his lifetime and meticulously maintained and cleaned each one. He also really enjoyed watching movies especially English period dramas and Cohen brother films.

George will be remembered most for his integrity, behind-the-scenes generosity, amazing facility with numbers, precision and his wry sense of humor which he maintained until the end.

He was also never late for anything. George died during the halftime of the UW-Stanford football game. Perhaps he had an idea of the outcome and as he often did when things didn’t look good, left the game early.

He is survived by his wife, Norma Sedlock, daughter, Janet Wallace, son-in-law, Rhea Wallace, daughter-in-law, Greta Sedlock, grandchildren, Matt and Jana Endicott and Kyra Wallace, and his siblings, Richard Sedlack, Robert Sedlack, and Marilyn Engle. He was preceded in death by his parents, Andrew and Susan Sedlack, and his son, Thomas Sedlock.

The family wishes to thank both his long time friends and new lemon drop drinking buddies at the Belletini for helping him enjoy his last year. At his request there will be no memorial service.