George Riser

1923 - 2022

Riser George Richard Age 98, of Huntingdon Valley, PA, died in Abington, PA, on June 21, 2022. He was born in 1923 in Salt lake City, moved to the East Coast in the late 1940's and spent most of his adult life in the Philadelphia area. George was the son of Jesse George Riser Jr. and Leah Neibaur Riser of Salt Lake City. On his maternal side, he was the great-grandson of Alexander Neibaur, the first Jewish convert to Mormonism and the first dentist in the Utah territory. In his later years, George devoted much time and effort working on a new edition of Alexander Neibaur's journal. George graduated from Salt Lake City's South High in 1941 and began his studies in science that year at the University of Utah. He received his BS degree in biology in 1947, his studies having been interrupted during his military service in the US Army during WWII. George had a beautiful baritone voice and for many years was the soloist for the 5th Church of Christian Science in Philadelphia. He had previously studied voice with Richard P. Condie and Emma Lucy Gates and had studied at the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music. George began his career in science as a statistician for the Army Signal Corps at the Philadelphia Depot, where he met his wife Bernice. Later he worked as an entomologist for the US Army Quartermaster in Philadelphia. The last 23 years of his work life were spent as a polymer and physical chemist for the US Dept. of Agriculture. In his later years, George's interest in science and the natural world was expressed through his generous contributions to scholarships and travel awards for field research for undergraduate and graduate biology students at the Univ. of Utah. In 2017 George received the first Distinguished Alumni Award given by the School of Biological Sciences of his alma mater. He also contributed to Northeastern University's Riser Lecture series begun in 1987 to honor his brother Nathan, the first director of the Northeastern University Marine Science Institute. George was predeceased by his wife, Bernice Moser Riser; parents Jesse and Leah Riser, and brother Nathan Riser. He is survived by his nieces, Claire Riser of Maine and Kathy Riser and spouse Nancy Perez of California, nephew Christopher Riser and spouse Julie Sexton of Maine as well as 6 great-nieces and nephews and 5 great-great nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers, donations in George's memory may be made to School of Biological Sciences, Riser Endowment, 257 S. 1400 E, 201B, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0840 or to Montgomery County SPCA, 1006 Edge Hill Rd., Abington, PA 19001.