George William Boisvert

George William Boisvert April 3, 1931 to November 16, 2016 George (also known as Billy when he was growing up) was born in Montreal, Canada on April 3 1931. He was French Canadian. His father was Achille Boisvert and his mother was Marguerite Wilkinson. George has an older sister, Andree Garvagh, and a younger brother, Guy Boisvert – they both live in Ontario, Canada. George married Jeannine Arsenault on June 4, 1960. She is also French Canadian from Quebec, Canada. He had one daughter, Louise, who married Todd Pickering and has two children, Kevin and Sarah Pickering. George grew up in Montreal, Canada. As a young boy he worked hard as a newspaper delivery boy. He also enjoyed collecting stamps, which he did until at least his 20s. George attended McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where he majored in Chemical Engineering. After graduation he briefly worked in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, and then was transferred to Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He worked as a Process Design Engineer on oil refineries located around the world. George met his wife Jeannine, a registered nurse, in Calgary. They bought their first home in Calgary. In 1962 they moved to California after receiving a job offer he couldn’t refuse. They bought a home in Whittier, California in 1964, where they have lived ever since. George worked at C.F. Braun Engineering in Alhambra, California for almost 25 years. Later he worked as an engineer at Ralph Parsons in Pasadena, California. From about 1975, George also worked as a real estate agent for about 18 years, at the same time as working a chemical engineer. He did engineering during the day on week days, and real estate on the weekends and week day evenings. In George’s younger adult years, he enjoyed camping, skiing, hunting rabbits, bowling, dancing, playing tennis, and investing in the stock market. George continued playing tennis and investing in the stock market until last year, at the age of 84 years old. When George retired in 1993, he became very active with the Palm Park Tennis League in Whittier, California. He won many tennis trophies over the years. George was a fighter when it came to health issues. When he was about 20 years old, he was diagnosed with pleurisy and was hospitalized in a sanitarium for 14 months, but recovered and continued with his studies at the University of McGill. In 2011, George was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He underwent radiation, which was successful, and he no longer showed signs of prostate cancer. In August 2015 he was diagnosed with esophageal and stomach cancer, along with thrombocytopenia. On September 1, 2015, he was told by multiple doctors that he had 2 months to less than a year to live and would need a G-tube for his feedings. George ended up living for 15 months, did not need a G-tube, and was able to enjoy life in his home. He did undergo 10 days of palliative radiation in October 2015. George worked very hard and saved his money ever since he was a young boy. He always enjoyed math, investing his money and playing tennis. In his later years, he really enjoyed his cat “Minou”. He always loved hearing about his two grandchildren, Kevin and Sarah’s, accomplishments, including that they both have excelled in math. He was thrilled to find out that his grandson, Kevin, is majoring in engineering just like he did. George has expressed, especially in the past two years, that he does not know what he would have ever done without his wife, Jeannine, caring for all his needs. Some of the things were helping him with his real estate, managing their 3 rental properties, and in the past 15 months she working very hard attending to his health needs (medications, food, bathing, etc.). We are very sad that George has passed away, we really miss him, but are glad that he did not suffer with severe unbearable pain like many people with esophageal and stomach cancer do. We were also blessed with him living many more months than doctors ever expected. May he rest in peace with God.