George Oliver "Ollie" Papps

1935 - 2019

George Oliver "Ollie" Papps

Reeders, PA. - George Oliver "Ollie" Papps, age 83, died at home in Reeders, Pennsylvania, on Friday, February 22, 2019 after a long illness.

He was born on August 8, 1935, in Brookside, New Jersey, to Elizabeth "Elsie" and George H. Papps Jr, a well-known local organist and choirmaster in Morristown churches. He attended the St. Thomas Choir School in Manhattan, Morristown High School and the University of Indiana at Bloomington, where he studied vocal performance. On October 16, 1965, he married Elizabeth Gyle-Thompson of the United Kingdom.

Ollie lived in the New York metro area most of his life -- including Morristown, New Jersey; New York City, New York; and Reeders, Pennsylvania - but spent most of his life in Bernardsville, NJ, where he and Elizabeth raised their family. An avid gardener, he and Elizabeth created beautiful garden landscapes at their homes.

Ollie worked as a lobbyist for the American Petroleum Institute in Trenton, New Jersey for much of his career until retiring in 1992. He was active in his community, served on the vestry of the Church of the Redeemer in Morristown, and was as a longtime volunteer in local politics, contributing to several winning campaigns. As a young man he toured North America with the Karlsrud Chorale, and later was a baritone singer and soloist at a variety of local churches and singing groups including the Spirit of Orthodoxy Choir, New York Pro Musica, and the Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church in Plainfield.

An intelligent man, greatly loved, he is remembered especially for the richness of his voice, his verbal skills, his wit and irreverent sense of humor, his enjoyment of travel and photography, and the love of music that characterized his life.

Survivors include his wife, Elizabeth Papps; his brother, Jon Daniel Papps, of Salem, Massachusetts; and two daughters, Jillian Sara Palmer of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, and Luia Elizabeth Pulkka (Erik) of Woodinville, Washington, as well as two grand-daughters, Anne Renee and Leslie Brooke Palmer of Stroudsburg, PA, and two grandsons, Erik Oliver and Angus Benjamin Pulkka of Woodinville, WA.

The family will greet friends from 3:00 P.M. until 5:00 P.M. Thursday, February 28, 2019 at the Yanac Funeral & Cremation Service, Inc. 35 Sterling Rd, Mt Pocono, PA 18344. The memorial service will take place on Saturday, March 2, 2019 at 11:00 A.M. in the Church of the Redeemer, 36 South Street, Morristown, NJ 07960. Interment will follow at St. Bernard's Cemetery, 60 Washington Ave, Bernardsville, NJ.

For those who share Ollie's love of music, donations can be made to St Thomas Choir School 202 West 58th Street NY, NY 10019.

Arrangements are under the direction of the Yanac Funeral & Cremation Service, Inc. 35 Sterling Road, Mount Pocono, where online condolences can be made @www.yanacfuneralhome.com