Celebrant Pam Meily Vetter


	Celebrating Life Everyone Has A Story...

In 1920, George William Reynolds was born to Boyd and Zella Reynolds in Fort Worth, Texas. He was known by his family as G.W. The family lived in a country house built by his grandfather, who was a carpenter. At the age of five, George was a hard worker. He sold newspapers and later set bowling pins at the bowling alley. By 1926, the family moved to Amarillo. As a child, George loved the circus. He worked at the circus helping to set up tents in exchange for free circus tickets. When he was a young boy, he started to do magic tricks. He shared his love of magic throughout his life with sleight of hand and card tricks. George could also pull coins from your ears with the greatest of ease. He enjoyed making others smile by doing his magic.

George graduated from Amarillo High School and earned his Associates Degree at the local community college. Education was always important to George. In December 1941, George voluntarily enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps. During his years in the military, he was a pilot and second-in-command for the 422 Night Fighter Squadron in the European Theatre of Operations where he rose to the rank of Major. He received several medals; among them, the Air Medal with Bronze Star (for combat flying) and the French Croix de Guerre avec Etoile d'Argent (War Cross with Silver Star) by order of General de Gaulle. George spent time in combat serving in countries such as England, France, Belgium, Holland and Germany. In 1946, G.W. returned home after serving in World War II.

In the 1950's, he moved with his brother Boyd to California. They lived by the beach in Santa Monica and enjoyed themselves greatly. To challenge himself one year, George went into the ocean to swim every single day, even when the waves were rough. Soon, he met Shirley Degitz, who was one of his neighbors. The couple married in 1960 and had three wonderful children: Teri, Mark and Susie. Family was extremely important to George. It was significant when the family bought their first home in Venice. George spent long hours working in the movie business, first as a production assistant for Mr. Frank Capra. He also worked as a driver for many decades at Burbank Studios. George officially retired at the age of 74 in 1994, inspiring others to work hard.

Throughout his life, George was devoted to his children. Sundays were their special days together as the kids were growing up. Later in life, he was truly a friend to each one of them and they could talk for hours. He was so proud of each one of his children with high school graduations, college educations and a variety of degrees earned by each child. He always wanted the best for his children, grandchildren and friends. He had many interests in life including the circus, architecture, design, science and reading up on current events. He was one man who could talk about every subject.

G.W. also liked to cook delicious meals such as pizza from scratch, pancakes, oxtail soup, military SOS and Hollywood Eggs. He often said, "I never thought I'd live this long...If I'd have known, I would have taken better care of myself." His purpose in life was to make people feel good. His advice to others would be to figure out what you love and do it. At every step, he encouraged his kids. They knew they were loved no matter what they did in life. George W. Reynolds will be remembered as an intelligent man with an excellent memory, who was sharp until the end of his days. He went peacefully at his home and for that final gift, his family is forever grateful.

If you wish to donate in the memory of George Reynolds, please donate to one of the following:

The Elephant Sanctuary
P. O. Box 393
Hohenwald, TN 38462
www.elephants.com

Autry National Center
4700 Western Heritage Way
Los Angeles, CA 90027-1462
www.autrynationalcenter.org

Amarillo High School 50th
Alumni Association
www.50thahs.org