My friend, George Wilson, passed away a week and two days ago. My wife, Garnet, and I met George and his wife, Mabel, during their volunteer efforts at the Potholes Ducks Unlimited banquets.

Mabel was in charge of the duck pond game and George would help her, as well as assist in other ways. The duck pond game involved a bunch of rubber ducks, which traveled in a wavy circle. The player paid $5 for a chance to pick a duck with a number on its bottom side. The number corresponded to a prize, but maybe no number would appear. Thus are the rules in a game of chance.

George was a woodworker. As such, he always had a bird house with a special theme. Perhaps this birdhouse resembled a duck hunting cabin or a sporting goods store selling bait and other outdoor gear.

Now Garnet's affection for birdhouses needs to be mentioned. The first year Garnet and I attended the Potholes banquet, she bid on and won George's birdhouse. George picked up on this fondness and next year had one designed to please her. It worked and she won, oh, I mean, she was the highest bidder on this birdhouse.  

If you haven't picked up on this theme, let me explain. George would build a birdhouse aimed at Garnet and she would buy it every year. I didn't mind at all. However, our living room was beginning to fill up with birdhouses. We now have many birdhouses, inside the house and outside as well, built by George. These structures aren't just houses for birds, but actually works of art, all a constant reminder of the designer, architect and contractor.

George and Mabel's son, Kirk, and his wife, Brenda, became fast friends after we met George and Mabel. Brenda's brother, Jim Morrell, wrote this about George:

"I first met George about 30 years ago when his son Kirk married my sister Brenda. My first recollections of George were when we would camp together at the Potholes State Park in a tent trailer during duck season.

"Duck season was more of a religion than a hunting season and we all had a great time. George would drop us off with our canoes and we would drift the Winchester Waste Way jump hunting ducks all day then he would pick us up at the other end. For me in many ways those were the golden days of duck hunting the Potholes and the flocks were big and flew frequently providing much shooting and many good memories.

"George was probably typical of the members of the Greatest Generation. He endured the Great Depression and moved west. World War II broke out and George was quick to enlist in the Navy where he served on a destroyer for the duration of the war.

"I remember him telling me how much he liked the Navy Bean soup. He said he ate so many beans that his nickname on the ship was "Beans."

"While George was overseas serving his country Mabel was a riveter where they were building ships for the war effort.

"Having been through tough times like the Great Depression and World War II, George had a tough exterior yet he was always very good and kind to Brenda and Kirk and others who were close to him."

The two of us, George and I, have had several heated political discussions over the years and it is questionable who won. None of these jousts were overly aggressive to the point of being destructive. We remained friends and respected our friendship.

George and Mabel recently celebrated their 72nd anniversary. We will continue to support Mabel in memory of George and in her own right.

Yes we will all miss George. There are times when a person meets a down-to-earth, no-nonsense patriotic American who is full of life, kind to all and extremely considerate. I'm lucky having met several such people; George Wilson was one.