| Graduation Year | Class of 1948 |
| Date of Passing | Nov 18, 2018 |
| About | George Wallace Macpherson Sept 28, 1930 - Nov 18, 2018 George passed away peacefully at the Sharp Medical Center in Chula Vista CA, following complications due to loss of health over the summer months. He had maintained his independence until the last few days and managed to see his son Bryon who flew in for a visit. George was born the youngest of five children to Dorothy and Rev. James Macpherson in Lincoln Nebraska. The family moved to Denver Colorado where George went to school at South High ('48) and worked delivering newspapers with his brothers as well as serving as a groundsman with the city parks department. He was able to secure a place at Bucknell University, but enlisted into the US Air Force during the Korean War. George was interested in flying and proved to be a talented student. He was assigned to the F86 Sabre Jet and posted to Hahn Airbase in West Germany. He helped his squadron gunnery team win the theatre championships, but his greatest prize was to meet a beautiful young German lady, Rosemarie Leyser. They were married from May 1956 until her passing in Feb 2016. Twin boys, Bryon and Bruce, arrived inside the first anniversary of which George was very proud. George never intended to make a career of the military, but education opportunities proved irresistible. He completed a Bachelor's Degree at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) in Ohio before being posted back to Germany for arguably the couple's happiest days - travel, culture and another son, Aaron, to complete the family. After various assignments including Master Degrees at Michigan University, academic instructor at the Air Force Academy in Colorado, F111 qualification in Nevada and Huey helicopter flying in Vietnam, he retired to the home they had built in Colorado Springs. His civilian jobs included managing databases for the City of Colorado Springs, teaching math and computer programming, especially his favourite Ada language, stints with Ford Aerospace, SpaceCom, Wyle Laboratories and Millennium Bug consultancy. In his spare time, he was an Assistant Scout Master of Troop 27 in Colorado Springs and oversaw several Scouts achieve Eagle rank. He loved to travel with Rosemarie and enjoyed many holidays in Europe, Brazil and Mexico and as a widower, last year he attended a family wedding near Oakland and Christmas with family in Woodbridge, England. George's final years were spent in Chula Vista, California near San Diego with the idea of benefiting from a temperate oceanside climate. Sadly health complications intervened and though George and Rosemarie were happy in their retirement community, their time there was shorter than they had hoped. Lt. Col. (Ret) George Macpherson is survived by his sister Dorothy, brother Roy, sons and daughters-in-law Bryon and Nancy, Bruce and Jacky, and Aaron and Marie, four grandchildren and five great grandchildren and very special people who form our extended Family. |
