A popular longtime Galesburg educator known for teaching a variety of industrial arts classes over a nearly three decade career has died.
George Stephenson, who taught at Churchill Jr. High School from 1957-1985, died Sunday in Galesburg. He was 93.
Stephenson began his industrial arts teaching career at Churchill Junior High School in Galesburg in 1957. Classes he taught included metalworking, woodworking, drafting and small engines.
During his 28 years of teaching, Stephenson authored three textbooks in the subjects of power technology, drafting and small gasoline engines. A total of eight textbooks (original three plus several revised editions) were published by Delmar Publishers in Albany, New York and were sold throughout the United States and Mexico over a span of 20 years while he was still teaching.
The American Industrial Arts Association named Stephenson as the outstanding teacher in Illinois for 1966-1967.
Obituary: George Edward Stephenson ~ February 23, 1931 to August 4, 2024
A Galesburg native, Stephenson graduated from University of Wisconsin – Menomonie (Stout Institute). He was accepted at the United States Navy Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island. After completing OCS, he was commissioned as an Ensign, and during the Korean War he served aboard the USS Otterstetter, DER 244 which operated 400 miles off the Atlantic Ocean/East Coast as part of the Cold War defense effort. The ship’s home port was Newport, Rhode Island.
He left active duty at the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade in the Navy Reserves and subsequently fully retired as a Lieutenant in the USNR.
In 1985 upon retirement from teaching, Stephenson and his wife Nadine devoted their energy to Statice Gardens, Inc. This business was started by his parents in 1938. He soon bought the business and operated it with his wife, children and up to 20 seasonal workers. Statice Gardens designed and assembled dried floral bouquets – using a wide range of everlasting flowers such as straw flowers, statice, gypsophila, star flowers, yarrow, etc. The bouquets were sold wholesale, almost always to supermarkets throughout the USA. Eventually the bulk of the business moved to Newburgh, Indiana, where his daughter Nancy operated the Indiana Division of the company.
His wife Nadine proceeded him in death in 2019. They are survived by two children – Nancy S. Carroll of Evansville, Indiana, and Peter M. Stephenson of Smithfield, Virginia, along with five grandchildren.
Memorial services for both George and Nadine will be held at 2 p.m., Saturday, August 24, 2024, at the First Presbyterian Church, Galesburg