George was born at Fabiola Hospital in Oakland, CA just two months after the stock market crash to George and Emily Oswell. Because of the tough times, the family moved frequently, even living in Oregon with George’s paternal grandmother for a while. The eventually settled in the Los Angeles area, by which time George had a baby brother, John. The family was able to get by, and the boys grew up in the suburbs, playing games with their friends and getting into trouble as boys do. The years of the Second World War brought new challenges, but the family endured.
After graduating from Tustin High school, George took classes at Glendale City College, and later Pepperdine College, before transferring to Fresno State College, from which he graduated in 1952 with a degree in English. His plans to become a teacher were sidetracked by the Koran conflict, and he enlisted in the Navy, to avoid being drafted into the Army. After completing basic training, he was stationed in Corpus Christi, Texas, where he served while waiting on his application to Officer Candidate School. Once he had completed OCS and was commissioned as an Ensign, he was sent to Pusan, Korea in the spring of 1954. Though the cease-fire had been signed, military assignments continued to the former was zone. As Pusan had largely been destroyed in a fire, George was assigned as a Communications Officer to an LST (Landing Ship, Tank) moored in the harbor.
A few months into his posting, George fell ill, with a terrible headache and a high fever. He was diagnosed with Poliomyelitis, and after getting past the acute phase of the illness, he was shipped home to the San Francisco area, where his parents then lived. He enrolled in the May T Morrison Center for Rehabilitation to work toward living independently, as his battle with Polio had left him partially paralyzed. While at May’s Rehab, he meet Shanna Lee Jones, a Physical Therapist who had come from Salt Lake City, Utah. They were married in January of 1956, and chose to start their life together in San Diego.
With Shanna working as a PT, and George taking classes toward a teaching credential, they were keeping their eye out for a place to build a house to suit George’s disability. On the advice of their landlord, they looked at a piece of property for sale in Bonita, south of San Diego. Though military benefits would help them borrow money to build a house, they had to buy the property without a loan. They borrowed from family and put down their savings, but they got the land. It took nearly two more years to design and build their home near the top of The Hill Road, and in July 1960, they moved in. They had a daughter, Mary, in July 1963.
Shanna died suddenly in May of 1965, and after a small addition onto the house, George’s parents, George and Emily, came to live with him. With his parent’s assistance, George raised his daughter, and life soon included elementary school, piano lessons, choir practice, and girl scouts. In her teen years, George enrolled Mary in San Diego Junior Theatre, an after-school theater program of the San Diego Park and Recreation Department. In no time at all, George and Mary were both heavily involved in the program, with George volunteering to take over the Box Office, a job that he would hold for almost 10 years. He also served several terms on Junior Theatre’s Board of Directors, and made friends that he would keep for the rest of his life.
In 1994, George married Donna Williamston, who he had meet through family. Donna, who had six grown children, settled into life of the hill, bringing her inimitable style to the house. Known for her legendary Christmas decorations, and love of holiday decorating in general,
Donna’s children and their families brought a new life and joy to the house, and crowds of over 20 were not unknown for Christmas Eve dinner.
Though he slowed down in later years, George still enjoyed the theater, particularly opera, as well as reading The New York Review of Books and The New Yorker, and watching the Padres play on TV. He enjoyed a good glass of scotch, a piece of La Bella’s pizza (Papa’s Favorite, extra sauce, extra cheese), and the time to talk about almost anything. While living on hill in Bonita for almost 60 years, he watched the Sweetwater Valley change quite a bit, but he knew that progress can only be managed, not stopped.
George is survived by his wife, Donna; his daughter, Mary of Westminster, CO; his brother, John of Danville, CA; and step-children James and Karen of San Diego, CA; Teresa of Fresno,
CA; and Ray, Casey and Tina of New Braunfels, TX. The family requests that you consider donating in George’s memory to San Diego Junior Theatre, the Cal Diego chapter of the Paralyzed Veterans of America or the Bonita Museum and Cultural Center.
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