Rev. Elliott Charles George

2 July 1941 to 28 June 2022

The Rev. Elliott Charles George passed away Tuesday, June 28, 2022 at age 80 following a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer.

Elliott was born July 2, 1941 in Findlay, Ohio to Rev. Malcolm W. and Charlotte A. (Williams) George.  Elliott was raised in Moline, Toledo, Upper Sandusky and Celina where his father served as pastor to the Evangelical United Brethren Church.   What is now Celina’s Bethany United Methodist Church was built in the late 50’s under Elliott’s father Malcolm.

Elliott graduated with the Celina High School Class of 1959.  During high school, he worked at Bair Pharmacy and was a lifeguard at Camp St. Mary’s.  Elliott enjoyed swimming, playing clarinet in band, piano lessons and singing baritone in the school choir.  His lifelong interest in drama was sparked by his roles (several lead parts) in high school productions!

Elliott enrolled at North Central College in Naperville, IL where his father was a trustee.  Elliott graduated from North Central in 1964 with a bachelor’s degree in Speech and Theater.  He devoted much (too much) of his time in school productions and his college radio show.  One summer Elliott ventured to Catskills, NY to work in Summer Stock Theater.  It was there he worked with a young Dustin Hoffman who was three or four years older… It was exciting for Elliott to watch Dustin in movies after that encounter years before! 

With the Viet Nam War underway, the next stop for Elliott was the United States Air Force (1964-1968).  Elliott was stationed most of those years at Offutt AFB (Omaha, NE) where he programmed computers- using punch cards!  Free time found him shooting trap and skeet, fixing his old car and working at the local Pizza Haven.  It was at the pizza joint where Elliott’s friend and future sister-in-law Maggie introduced him to his bride-to-be: Carol Ann Bell from Winterset, IA.  They fell in love and were married June 5, 1966 at the Winterset Methodist Church.

Military discharge from the Air Force in 1968- by now a new direction that had been in his heart for many years opened up, and it was a return to Naperville, Illinois to attend Evangelical Theological Seminary. Elliott’s great uncle Ed, father Malcolm, and brother Albert preceded him at the seminary. A George family tradition for sure. His brother Al was currently a seminary student, so there were many fun times with Elliott and Al spending their free time playing Ping-Pong and inventing new twists to the rules of the game. Neither had extra money in those days, so Ping-Pong was cheap fun but great fun for brotherly bonding.

Elliott’s fourth year of seminary was a mandatory internship year. Elliott took his young family to Fulton, Missouri where he was employed with a meager stipend as chaplain intern at the state operated mental institution.  Another new experience to add to his resume.

Completing the internship and having already joined the Illinois Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, Elliott was appointed by the bishop to Hebron United Church in Hebron, Illinois from 1973 to 1977.  Hebron- if you did not know- won the 1952 Illinois High School Boy’s Basketball Championship when Hebron’s population was 650 and their high school had 98 students.  It would be two years later in 1954 when Milan, IN did the same thing (but with a student population almost twice the size) to inspire the great basketball movie Hoosiers.    Hebron was still celebrating their 1952 championship when the Georges came to town in 1973- no doubt that celebration is STILL going on today!

While in Hebron, Elliott and Carol taught their 2 sons Chris and Matt to swim in Lake Geneva, WI ten miles from their home. Fond memories of sledding down hilly country pastures occupied by cattle, taking the little red empty wagon to the library with the boys and returning with a load of books. Early preschool education. The boys straightened their bedrooms on Saturday and each were give 10 cents to take on foot to the little store two blocks away to buy candy. What motivation in those days for learning to be tidy. In Hebron Elliott worked with another parishioner as dual leaders of the Boy Scout troop. Some funny experiences came out of his work with the troop.  The “Vanishing Skunk” story lives on in Hebron lore… Elliott took the scouts hunting when they were approached by a fearless skunk.  Elliott stopped the scouts from shooting the skunk- and to give it a chance Elliott made the scouts give the skunk ten more steps toward them… the scouts assembled a picket line… took aim… in unison they counted down the skunk’s steps, from ten to one… and then…

In 1977 Elliott took a 2 year leave from parish ministry and moved his young family in the dead of winter to the Land of 10,000 Lakes- Minnesota!  He was hired by Covenant Living- a company developing retirement communities- to be their Eden Prairie project coordinator.  We made great friends while there, and to this day in contact with some of them. An Epic vacation… One RV… three families… six adults and nine children… three 8-track tapes.  Well worth the move to the suburbs.

Elliott was pastor at Milaca United Methodist Church from 1979 to 1987.  He greatly enjoyed singing in the choir and joining all of the youth group activities at the church, the UMC lakeside camps and week-long excursions to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. 

Elliott guided the Milaca congregation through a critical time in their history as they developed their long-term vision for financial stability and a new sanctuary.  They made it happen, and in Elliott’s time the old church building was razed, a temporary bell tower was put up and plans for the new sanctuary moved forward.  Elliott was no longer the pastor by the time the new sanctuary was completed, but he was elated to see the congregation thrive and see their vision through!

As his boys grew up, Elliott bought an old 14 foot Lund fishing boat that was used on hundreds of trips to the lakes.  We used a pair of tents for our camping and travels- then moved up to a pop-up camper!  In middle school days, the boys bought matching shotguns at the hardware store and Elliott took them hunting in church friends’ fields.  A compound bow and BB guns were also always close-by.  Somehow the boys managed to stay out of trouble.  Carol and Elliott bought their son Chris a drum set- he’s put thousands of hours on it.  Our windows were always open in the summer, so we are not sure how the neighbors tolerated the drumming all hours of the day and night, but they were great sports. 

Elliott treasured the Milaca community and felt it was an ideal place to raise his family.  He turned down a number of appointments to other cities so his family could stay in Milaca as long as possible.  We are grateful he did this- we enjoyed our years in Milaca and consider it our family's hometown.

Elliott also served Thief River Falls, Duluth and Sauk Centre MN as well as Hebron, IL and Fort Madison, IA.  Elliott and Carol eventually retired to the Quad Cities in Iowa.

In his free time, Elliott could often be found puffing on his corn cob pipe while listening to NPR radio and working on a crossword puzzle.  He was an avid reader who also loved camping, fishing, and following his grandchildren everywhere.  Elliott and his wife Carol traveled the world researching family genealogy.

When Elliott was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer, the boys took him out one last time in his old Lund boat.  Elliott caught his last fish!  His wife Carol had 13 years of home hospice experience, so she was able to keep Elliott at home throughout his cancer treatment and up until the final few weeks of his life.

Elliott is survived by his wife Carol Ann (Bell) George, his sons Chris (Carolyn) and Matt (Jennifer) and five grandchildren.  Elliott lived a life of integrity, honesty, and faithfulness.  He would like each of us to live life with a brave heart and a wild imagination!

Note from Carol George:    Since this isn't being published in a newspaper we wrote an extended version of Elliott's obit so people could find a little more detail in his life's adventures.

Elliott greatly enjoyed reuniting with his Celina friends... I hope this message finds everyone well and in good spirits..