George Falk

FALK, George George Walter Falk of Prospect, Kentucky died Saturday, October 4, 2008 in Charleston, South Carolina from complications following an automobile accident. He was born December 9, 1930 to Nils Conrad Falk and Viola Johnson Falk in Brooklyn, New York and was the oldest of their three sons. He survived Lt. Col. Neil Richard Falk and is survived by Walter Rand Falk, his youngest brother. In 1951, He was graduated from Saint Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota where he was a four year starting left attack on the hockey team. In 1955, he received a Masters Degree in Chemical Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology at Chicago, Illinois. While a Senior at St. Olaf he met his wife, Janet Carolyn Erickson of Oak Park, Illinois. Janet and her husband had a joyous 55-year marriage. George is survived by two children and five grandchildren: daughter, Carolyn Falk Sharpe and her husband Dr. Jeffery Neal Sharpe, MD; their daughters, Caroline Grace Sharpe (20) and Kristen Emily Sharpe (18); and son, James Kristian Falk and his wife Morgan McEachern Corley Falk, their sons George Edward Simmons Falk (21), Perry McCants Castleman Falk (19), and Carter Morgan Shepherd Falk (10). George had an extensive career in business which brought him and his family to Louisville in 1967 to work for Devoe Paint and then Celanese Coatings and Polymers. In 1980 George went into business for himself purchasing Plastic Parts, Inc. of Shelbyville, KY, soon after he started several commercial food ingredient businesses. George never made plans to retire and remained active in and loved the daily management of his many business interests until his death at age 77. George centered his life upon his wife, children, grandchildren, and church. He was a member of St. Francis in the Fields Episcopal Church. Having become an Eagle Scout as a boy, he was an active participant in his son's Boy Scout Troup. He was a member of Hunting Creek and Harmony Landing Country Clubs, the Pendennis Club, and Churchill Downs' Turf Club. He and his wife Janet especially enjoyed entertaining their many friends at their home on Sunny Acres Farm in Oldham County, KY and traveling in the United States and abroad. George had a special love for breeding, training and racing thoroughbred horses which he pursued at his farm. The highpoint in George's career as a horseman came on Derby Day 1995 when he and Janet stood in the Winners Circle, with their children, at Churchill Downs and received the First Place Trophy for the Churchill Downs' Handicap from George Herbert Walker Bush after the family's horse, Gold Seeker Bud, ran wire to wire to beat the previous year's Kentucky Derby Winner Go for Gin. Visitation will be at Pearson's Funeral Home, 149 Breckinridge Lane, Louisville, KY from 4pm to 8pm on Wednesday, October 8, 2008. The funeral will be held at St Francis in the Fields Episcopal Church, Harrods Creek, KY at Noon on Thursday, October 9th. The burial will follow immediately after the service at Cave Hill Cemetery; Louisville. Following the burial, Janet invites friends and family to join her at Sunny Acres Farm for a celebration of George's life. Expressions of sympathy may be sent to the Louisville Orchestra, Heuser Hearing Institute, or St Francis in the Fields. Visit our guestbook at www.charleston.net/deaths.