George F Cowell

George Franklin Cowell was born in Brodhead, Wisconsin, in 1930. He was in the US Air Force and stationed in Germany in 1959 when he met the love of his life, his "hot dog" Gisela. George was a great man taking care of an adopting Gisela's two sons, Alfred and Frank and later had two children. Ricky and Nancy with Gisela. After serving his country for 23 years, George retired from the US Air Force. He then went on to work for the US Postal Service for 17 years. George was a hard worker and at one time, he worked three jobs to support his family while Gisela stayed home and raised their four children.

George and Gisela loved to travel and see the sights, from castles on the Rhine River in Germany to Manzanita Raceway in the desert of Arizona. George loved polka music and he and Gisela often went to the German-American Club in Phoenix to dance the night away. They frequently went to the Greyhound Dog Race Parks to watch the dog races and often took Ricky and Nancy. George knew that Gisela loved flowers so they made special trips to the flower fields on Baseline Road in Phoenix. They also made many trips to Laughlin, NV, so he could watch her "win big" in the casinos. He was a devoted husband and loved his family.

Two interesting facts about him were -- at the age of 73 he earned his pilot's license and bought a paraglider that he loved to fly with his dog Snowball AND when a gift was to be given to him it was to always be YELLOW socks and only yellow socks. A memory Rick, George's son has is getting his driver's license at age 16. One day, Dad, Mom and his sister, Nancy were driving in their new Ford Granada when they were rear ended. Dad got hurt so he could not drive and he was the only one with a driver's license. The reason Rick got his license was so he could drive dad to his doctor's appointment.

One memory Nancy, George's daughter, has was when they took a family trip to Horseshoe Lake. According to her, George insisted...no...ordered them to make their beds military style with the corners folded and tucked. She said that maybe Dad thought that was funny. Nancy did not think so. A memory Fred, George's oldest son has is remembering how his Dad taught him how to swim. He said his Mom didn't know how to so George would toss him in the water and then throw out a long skimmer pole with a net to fetch him out. Fred most appreciates the months just prior to his Mom passing away when his Dad would come pick him up and they'd drive to go spend time with her. They had their closest and best conversations at that time.

Fred also says as his Mom was in her final hours, she began speaking only in her native language, German. He was able to translate all she said to George. She asked Fred to take care of George in her last moments of life. George's grandchildren will always remember the way he loved tickling them sometimes until the point of peeing their pants, his nicknames for each of them (Dolly and Pudgie were among his favorites), his winks, and the way he would say "that's life in the big city." As adults they really loved the way he would light up seeing his great grandchildren.