Philip Frederick (Fred) George

Philip Frederick (Fred) George was born on July 18th, 1954 in Quincy, Washington to Philip and Connie George and passed away on January 13th, 2024 in Spokane, Washington at the age of 69 years. While growing up, he lived in several communities in Washington and Idaho until the family settled in Cheney, Washington where he attended and graduated from Cheney High School in 1972.

After high school, Fred enlisted in the US Coast Guard, serving for 4 years. He was very proud of his military service and was active in Veterans Service Organizations, including AMVETS and American Legion. He was active in establishing the Washington State Veterans Cemetery and served on the Honor Guard for many years after its opening. In AMVETS, he was instrumental in organizing two local AMVETS Posts, #3733 in Sunnyside and #92 in Spokane. He served in all of the Department of Washington Offices except Adjutant, Sergeant at Arms, and Chaplain and was elected to Department Commander in 2005 where he served for 2 terms. He also served on the AMVETS National Executive Committee for a number of years. Fred loved serving the Veterans Community and was always willing to volunteer. He was club manager at Horton-Strength-Gale VFW Post 3386 in Airway Heights, WA for 10 years.

Fred was employed at many jobs over the years until his employment at Haas Hop Processors in Yakima, Washington where he served as Teamsters Union Representative for a number of years.

He met his wife, Gloria, in 1992 and they married on July 4th, 1998. Fred and Gloria loved to country western dance and spent a number of years teaching line dance and couple dances around the Yakima Valley. They were members of the Sun Country Shufflers where Fred served as choreographer for the dance team.

In 1994, at age 40, it was discovered that Fred had a heart condition which led to congestive heart failure. This discovery led to the odyssey which followed him for the remainder of his life and ultimately was the cause of his death. In 2001, it was determined that Fred needed a heart transplant to sustain his life. Ultimately, Fred and Gloria packed up and moved to Spokane, Washington to be closer to the heart transplant team. Fred lived with a Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) for 22 months before a donor heart was found. He received his transplant on Labor Day weekend, 2003. Our sincere thank you to the family of Spokane County Sheriff Deputy, James Sleater for your generous gift of 20 years of additional life. Also, thank you to Dr. Icenogle, Dr. Sandler, and the rest of the transplant team for the incredible caring and skill you gave.

Fred is survived by his wife of 25 years, Gloria George, his daughter, Holly Rowe (Scott), his sisters, Janet Martin (Stan) and Julie Carlberg (Tim), stepsister, Kris Busch (Craig), his stepmother, Mary George, stepsons, David Bussert (Ty) , Dan Bussert (Mona), and John Bussert (Rachel). He is also survived by his grandsons, Jesse Rowe, Koehl Bussert, Reicher Bussert, Nacoda Bussert, Ethyn Trimble, and Ulysseas Bussert, Uncle Will George (Fay) and Aunt Bobbie George as well as 5 nieces and 1 nephew.

He is also survived by his lifelong best friend, Rod Foland, as well as many others. He was preceded in death by his father, Phil George and mother, Connie George, 3 uncles, Ben George (Nina), Don George (Esther), and Keith George.

His Memorial Service will be at the Washington State Veterans Cemetery in Medical Lake, WA on Wednesday, July 3rd, 2024 at 11:15 a.m. The cemetery requests that attendees please arrive at 11:00. There will be a Celebration of Life immediately following the service at Jensen Youth Ranch Community Building, North Stanley, Medical Lake, WA. Potluck dishes are encouraged. Bring what you like to drink.