Joseph E. George

PITTSFIELD -- Dr. Joseph Edward George, 83, of 946 West St. died Thursday at home.

Born in Pittsfield on Dec. 12, 1922, son of William K. and Helen Azar George, he was a 1940 graduate of Pittsfield High School. He attended Holy Cross College and Yale University, and was a 1947 graduate of Georgetown University Dental College. He completed his internship in dentistry at New Jersey Medical Center.

An Army veteran of World War II, he served from November 1942 to September 1944 and was honorably discharged as a private first class.

In 1948, Dr. George established a dental practice in Great Barrington. He closed the practice to serve as a first lieutenant and oral surgeon with a MASH unit during the Korean War, from January 1952 to July 1954. Following the war, he established a new practice in Pittsfield. He retired in 1988, leaving the practice to his son, Dr. John C. George.

He was a longtime communicant of St. Mark's Church and, more recently, of St. Joseph's Church.

He was a member of the Berkshire District, Massachusetts and American dental societies, and the Lebanese-American Club, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Austerlitz Sportsmen's Club and the Country Club of Pittsfield. He was active in numerous charitable efforts and led local fundraising efforts for St. Jude's Children's Hospital.

He enjoyed hunting, skiing, playing golf, traveling and boating on Onota Lake.

He and his wife, the former Norma B. Atter, were married Dec. 29, 1957. Thursday was their 48th wedding anniversary.

Besides his wife and son, of Pittsfield, he leaves another son, Dr. William J. George of Red Lodge, Mont.; two daughters, Dr. Marie George McLeish of Manchester Center, Vt., and Kathleen George Hutchinson of New Orleans, and 10 grandchildren.

FUNERAL NOTICE -- The funeral for Dr. Joseph Edward George, who died Thursday, Dec. 29, 2005, will be Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2006, at 8:15 from DERY FUNERAL HOME, with a Liturgy of Christian Burial at 9 at St. Joseph's Church celebrated by the Rev. Michael A. Shershanovich, pastor. Entombment will follow in St. Michael the Archangel Mausoleum at St. Joseph's Cemetery. Calling hours will be Monday, Jan. 2, from 3 to 7 at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, contributions in memory of Dr. George may be made to the Samuel Atter Memorial Scholarship Fund or to St. Joseph's Church, both in care of the funeral home, 54 Bradford St., Pittsfield, MA 01201. He also leaves his sons-in-law, Robert McLeish and Paul Hutchinson, his daughters-in-law, Lois Stepahin and Mary Flynn George, and his 10 grandchildren, Claire and Colin McLeish, Bethany and Samuel George, Nicholas, Andrew, Isabelle and Wyatt George, and Ethan and Anna Hutchinson. He died quietly with his family by his side.