George Musgrove

1945 - 2020

George Musgrove
January 27, 1945- March 28, 2020
George Gilbert Musgrove, of 1426 Cole Avenue Rock Hill, South Carolina, passed away at his home on March 28, 2020. He was seventy-five years old.
George was born January 27, 1945 in Mansfield, Nottingham, England to Mavis Musgrove, nee Wilcockson, and George William Musgrove.
Raised in New Haven, Connecticut, George graduated from West Haven High School, earned his B.A. from Yale University, and his Ed.D. from the University of Massachusetts.
George made his career in city government, leading agencies through times of crisis or reorganization. After a stint in the New Haven Human Resources Administration, he traveled to Baltimore, Maryland, to helm the Department of Social Services during the socially turbulent crack epidemic. In Norfolk, Virginia, he was tasked with reforming a Department of Human Services shaken by years of leadership instability and rank and file discontent. In Oakland, California he left his position as Assistant City Manager to create a blueprint for turning around the city's troubled public schools. A hard-charging reformer, he likened his approach to a "fever": "…to improve service, to make the system work, to change, to take risk… My impatience is when people have not caught that fever."
In the early 2000s, he retired and relocated to his wife's hometown of Rock Hill.
George is survived by his wife Barbara Jean Musgrove and their son Craig Musgrove of Rock Hill, and his children Taura Musgrove and George Derek Musgrove (Michelle), of Baltimore and Washington, D.C. respectively, from his first marriage to Margaret Musgrove. Predeceased by his parents, he is survived by his sister Althea Vivian Norcott (Flemming) of New Haven, his uncle Eric Wilcockson of Mansfield, and many nieces and nephews, cousins, in-laws, and friends.
The Musgrove family will inter George's remains in Grove Street Cemetery on July 30, 2021.