George R. McCaughrean

MOUNT PROSPECT – George R. McCaughrean, 90, of Mount Prospect for 49 years, passed away Saturday, April 24, 2010, at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, surrounded by his family.

He was born Jan. 30, 1920, in Philadelphia.

He was a 1939 graduate of Atlantic City High School, Atlantic City, N.J., and received his bachelor of science degree in 1951 from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.

During the summer months as a teenager, he worked on the Steel Pier in Atlantic City as an usher in various theaters. One of his lifelong memories was being able to see and hear all the top big bands of the 1940s and top vaudeville acts while getting paid for it. He served in the military during World War II between October 1941 and September 1945 in the South Pacific where he was a crew chief servicing B-24 bombers in the 13th Army Air Force, 307th Bomb Group, 424th Bomb Squadron known as the Jungle Air Force.

He started working for Western Electric Co. in the engineering department in New York City in 1951. He later was transferred to the Chicago area where he was an engineer and department chief for AT&T until he retired in 1984. He spent his retirement years running an AT&T retiree luncheon, enjoying woodworking, genealogy research, using the computer, traveling and volunteer work for Trinity United Methodist Church in Mount Prospect.

He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Nancy (Flood) McCaughrean of Philadelphia; his beloved sons, Steven (Kate) of Woodstock and Alan of Seattle; his daughter, Lisa (Edgar) Aguilar of Mundelein; his grandchildren, Kara McCaughrean, Joshua Aguilar and Kassandra Aguilar; and his brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, Howard and Esther Liddle, Earl and Rachel Merritz, George and Carey Larmour and Robert and Marian Hartman.

He was preceded in death by his father, Robert; and his mother, Elizabeth McCaughrean, originally of Liverpool, England.

The visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 27, at Friedrichs Funeral Home, 320 W. Central Road, Mount Prospect. The funeral will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 28, at Trinity United Methodist Church, 605 W. Golf Road, Mount Prospect. The Rev. Dr. Daniel Swinson will officiate. Private interment will follow in Memory Gardens, Arlington Heights.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Trinity United Methodist Church, 605 W. Golf Road, Mount Prospect, IL.

For information, call the funeral home at 847-255-7800.