Thomas St. George

Thomas Richard "Ozzie" St. George left this earth on Tuesday, July 29, 2014, at the age of 94. 

Ozzie was born in Simpson on Nov. 23, 1919, and was the only child of John and Cecelia (nee Kennedy) St. George. He attended school in Simpson, Rochester and the University of Minnesota School of Journalism until drafted into World War II. Originally with the 32nd Infantry, he soon joined the staff of Yank Magazine and covered the war from Australia, New Guinea and the Philippines. While serving in the army, he met his future wife, Staff Sgt. Amelia "Mimi" Vitali of Philadelphia. They married while in the Philippines and once stateside, at Our Lady of Angels Catholic Church in Philadelphia. Following their marriage, they moved to southern California where Ozzie had a brief career as a screenwriter. He then turned to journalism and spent the next 50 years at newspapers in San Diego, Philadelphia, Rochester and St. Paul. He was a reporter, sports editor, cartoonist, copy editor and columnist ("Slice of Wry" - St. Paul Pioneer Press). Ozzie retired from the Pioneer Press in 1994. Two books were written by Ozzie while he was in the Army: "C/O Postmaster," a Book of the Month Club selection, and "Proceed Without Delay." Following his retirement, he also self-published the Eddie Devlin Compendium: "Old Tim's Estate," "Wildcat Strike," "The Bloody Wet," "Bringing Chesty Home," "Replevy for a Flute," "Clyde Strikes Back," "Flacks," "Deadlines" and "The Survivors."

Ozzie is survived by his daughters, Diane (Richard) Lock of Kingston St. Mary, England, Andrea St. George Jones of Sullivan, Maine, and Lisa St. George of Plum City, Wis.; his seven grandchildren, Digby Lock of Mountain View, Calif., Megan (Nick) Morrell of Singapore, Brenna St. George Jones of New York City, Carlin (Jay) Jones-Ticer of Ravena, N.Y., Hayley (Troy) Ingli of Stockholm, Wis., Norah (Mark) Knabe of White Bear Lake, and Evan Knudsen of Los Angeles, Calif.; and his six great-grandchildren, Laurel Ticer, Amelia and Owen Ingli, Maya and Otto Morrell and Kennedy Knabe.

When you live to 94 you survive many people, but in his immediate family he was preceded in death by his wife, Mimi, in 1994, his son, Dennis, in 2004, and his second wife, Silvana in 2014.

A private service will be held Sept. 30, 2014, at Saint Louis Church in St. Paul, followed by internment of his ashes at Fort Snelling, where he will be with his wife Mimi again.

In his own words, Ozzie was a lucky man. He had wit, intelligence and a love for the written word. We all carry a part of him in us and will never forget all the good advice he gave us.