George Peter Battistel

George Peter Battistel was born on July 4th, 1948, in Casale sul Sile, Italy. He and his parents moved with the Battistel clan to a vibrant Italian neighborhood in Burnaby, British Columbia, when he was just a chubby baby with a banana hairstyle. An altar boy at St. Helen's and a graduate of Notre Dame High School, Dad was a devout Catholic who lived the teachings of Jesus Christ through a life of charity and service to others. He was the eldest of four brothers and took his fraternal duties seriously, playing football and scrub with his siblings and keeping everyone safe. In Canada, he became baseball obsessed; he played an entire season of strat-o-matic baseball and cheered for the Yankees his whole life. Mickey Mantle was his favorite player.

At Simon Fraser University, he became enamored with statistics and studied accounting, then earned an MBA from the University of British Columbia. Working for the Canadian Revenue Service, he met the love of his life, his future wife Marie. A daughter and a son followed creating a family of four: four seasons in a year, four points on compass, four parts of a harmony, four stooges (Dad was always Moe during make believe games with his brothers), four chambers in a heart.

Four making a whole.

Dad taught business classes at Kwantlen College until 1987 when, with the encouragement of Mom, he pursued his dream, a PhD. Our foursome moved to Eugene, Oregon, so Dad could attend the University of Oregon, home of the Mighty Ducks. In Eugene, Dad had more time to spend with family. We bonded through regularly attending Ducks' volleyball, basketball, softball and football games. I think one of the greatest moments of his life besides his marriage and the birth of his children and grandchildren was Kenny Wheaton's "The Pick." He also coached our middle school basketball, baseball, and softball teams. After some of our games, he had to put whiskey in his coffee to cope, fair because our teams were generally pretty bad; he once poetically called me (the daughter) a human wicket because I kept letting balls go through to the outfield. Not everyone can be Derek Jeter.

Post-graduation, Dad had professorial stints at the University of Manitoba, Portland State University, and the University of Portland. He selflessly commuted to Portland for four years, so my brother would not have to change schools. Dad transitioned from teaching back to accounting, "retiring" as the Associate Vice President of Finance for Lewis and Clark University in 2016. He and Mom moved to San Diego to spoil the grandkids, but his incomparable work ethic meant he immediately found new jobs in retirement, and he worked until he died.

The grandkids came first though, and he was utterly besotted with Lucas and Ella. He helped with their sports teams, chauffeured them to and from school, and took them out for regular little treats at Starbucks. We will deeply miss Dad's wit, humor, kindness, stability, advice and love. Dad is preceded in death by his parents Regilde and Peter, his in-laws Italo and Angela, and his granddogs, Otis and Bailey. He is survived by his loving wife, Marie, his children Sarah Alyson and Peter, his children-in-law, Eric and Wendy, his brothers, Mike (Patricia), Renato (Lorena), and Paul (Julie), his sister-in-law Josie, his grandchildren Lucas and Ella, cousins, nieces, nephews, and his granddogs Iris and Maple. Dad died at the age of 77 on All Saints' Day, holding Mom's hand as she recounted their adventures.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital stjude.org and cheering for the Oregon Ducks.