George M. Rider

The stars shone brighter on the night of February 24, 2018, as they welcomed our father, George Meredith Rider, to his heavenly reward. Dad would say that he was “A Jack of All Trades and a Master of None.” He was a Master at being a loving father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and friend. He was a man who loved life, loved God, and his country. He was a loving disciplinarian, teacher, counselor, mentor, and fun guy. His legacy of love, faith, duty, honor, enjoying life and having fun, lives on in his 4 children, 5 grand children and 4 great grandchildren.

Dad’s life journey started on January 5, 1928, when he was born as the youngest son of George and Grace Rider in Camden, NJ. (Yes, Dad was a Yankee!!) He and his older brother Richard (deceased) were quite the handful. Dad led a protest walkout of his kindergarten class! Why he did it is unknown. Dad was in high school when Pearl Harbor happened. He left school and joined the Navy. He loved the Navy life and served our country for 26 years. It was his duty to do his best make sure that the planes were ready for the pilots that flew them to defend our country. He retired with the rank of E-9 as Avionics Master Chief George M. Rider. He earned his high school GED before he retired and earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of North Florida.

Dad’s enduring legacy started when he married our Mother, the former Betty Joyce Bame (deceased), and welcomed the birth of his first child, Burt Lindsay, 9 months after his honeymoon. His second child, Amanda Grace, came 18 months after Burt; William (Bill) Edwin followed 15 months later, and his youngest child, Patricia (Patsy) Irene followed 42 months later. He taught us how to be loving, well mannered, respectful and productive members of society not just by his example but by being an involved parent. He participated with us in Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. We attended church together and were active in our church’s youth groups. We square danced as a family. We went on family campouts that included our respective girlfriends/boyfriends as we became teenagers. We met and married our Dad approved spouses: Burt married Lydia 34 years ago (son Gatlin), Amanda married Gary Butler 25 years ago, Bill married Cheryl 39 years ago (son Chad, daughter Lisa), and Patsy (son Rick Lane, daughter Mandy Lane Yoachum) married Jim Aston 4 years ago.

All through our lives Dad told corny jokes, made delicious banana pancakes on Christmas morning, let us make our own mistakes, picked us up and helped us recover from life’s challenges, instilled a love of reading, and made sure we became productive members of society. These words do not do justice to the wonderful man he was.

His greatest gift to us was knowing that his was an unwavering, unconditional, love. We were blessed to have Dad for 90 years. We miss him.

Dad was a man that shared what he had with those in need. Instead of flowers, please make a donation in Dad’s name to K9 for Warriors.

Dad’s Celebration of Life service will be held at 2:00pm on Saturday, March 3rd at Hardage-Giddens, Riverside Memorial Park & Funeral Home, 7242 Normandy Boulevard, Jacksonville, Florida, 32205.