George P. has a rich Spanish history. His father was from Barcelona, Spain, and married a woman from El Salvador. George was born in Ecuador, and four years after he was born, his family moved to San Francisco, California. His father was a Merchant Marine, and he remembers him being in and out of the house frequently as he traveled the world. His mother passed away when he was young, so most of the parenting he and his four siblings experienced came from his uncles and grandmother.
Goerge was the oldest child and worked hard to keep everyone else in line. He attended Catholic grammar school and served as an altar boy for four years. After graduating from grammar school, he began attending a Catholic high school, where he paid for his tuition, books, and supplies by working a part-time job at the local Good Will. Upon graduating from high school, he went to city college to pursue a bachelor of arts, but he only attended one year before dropping out to help his grandmother.
Joining The Air Force
He did not make a lot of money, so he figured the best way to combat that would be to go into the military. After enlisting in the Air Force, he went to San Antonio, Texas for three months of boot camp. He left right before Christmas and learned everything there was to know about ground refueling and petroleum, oil, and lubricating (POL). For six months he was stationed at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, George. At that time, he flew a couple of times in JP-4s and JC-197s, but decided he preferred staying on the ground.
Iwo Jima and Japan
From Georgia, he went to Iwo Jima. He saw special aircraft come in after running out of fuel and even serviced civilian airplanes that came in by emergency. During this time on Iwo-Jima, the service members had the opportunity to visit Japan during their leave. He remembers getting to see Mt. Fuji by train. Iwo Jima is not very large island. The span of it is about five miles. When they were not working, the men spent time gambling playing cards, basketball, billiards, driving, hiking up to Mount Suribachi, or drinking beer. He also remembers it being so hot that men worked in pants and a t-shirt because of sweat.
Transferring to France
After a year of service on Iwo Jima, they transferred him to France. He was at a small shop, and he worked on refueling C119s, otherwise known as the “flying boxcar” because of its cargo-hauling ability. After a year, he was transferred to another base about 60 miles from Paris, France where he served the remainder of his time in the Air Force. Overall, he served four years in the Air Force before discharging as an Airman First Class in Oakland, California. He enjoyed his time in the military and all the travel opportunities he got to experience, like visiting England, Italy, Spain, and Portugal.
Big Life Changes for George
After discharging, his father helped him get a job as an electrician in San Francisco. He worked that job for six months before they laid him off. He found a job as a sheet metal operator and got into an industrial accident after some sheet metal he was pulling fell on top of him. George says he had a 50-50 chance at living. He does not remember a lot about what happened, but he woke up alive in the ICU a week later. He credits the three physicians that took care of him because he’s able to tell the story today.
Ahead Of The Curve
George did not like leaning on his parents, but things get scary when you are out there on your own. He decided to enroll in Heald College’s TAB IBM Equipment program as many businesses were starting to use computers. After graduating, he took the exam and got on the list of those seeking employment as TAB operators. He got a call from the City of San Francisco and took a job at city hall, which began his 32-year career in computer operation. Over the years, he worked in various positions with the city hall’s Assessor’s Office and even the Electronic Data Processing (EDP) Department. New departments kept coming, and the bigger they got, the bigger the computers became.
Marriage And Children
During his work at city hall, he met his wife, Ann. She worked in another department and came to take a tour and look at their systems because their department would soon get computers too. After they married, they had three children, David, Deanna, and Gina. He loved being a father and looked forward to going home after work to spend time with his kids. His favorite times were celebrating the holidays, like Christmas and their birthdays. He also took them on trips to see Yosemite, Sequoia, and King Canyon National Parks. He also collected stamps from the various countries he visited.
During his work at city hall, he met his wife, Ann. She worked in another department and came to take a tour and look at their systems because their department would soon get computers too. After they married, they had three children, David, Deanna, and Gina. He loved being a father and looked forward to going home after work to spend time with his kids. His favorite times were celebrating the holidays, like Christmas and their birthdays. He also took them on trips to see Yosemite, Sequoia, and King Canyon National Parks. He also collected stamps from the various countries he visited.
Moving Onward And Upward
After 32 years of marriage, he and Ann decided to get a divorce, and the kids went with Ann. The kids were still relatively young when they parted ways. He remembers that David was about 11. When Ann remarried, her new husband was not too fond of George, so he did not get to see his kids as often as he would have liked. However, he later met another woman named Charlotte when he drove a commuter bus from Fairfield to San Francisco. He owned the bus and was responsible for driving and keeping it full. Charlotte was one of the passengers, and they later married.
She worked for AT&T in Oakland, but she got transferred a lot during their marriage. After they married, he eventually retired from city hall as the EDP Department Shift Supervisor. He began driving the commuter bus as his primary form of work, and Charlotte was transferred to New Jersey because it paid more, and she was also more qualified there. Shortly after she moved to New Jersey, he retired from bus driving and followed her there. They lived in New Jersey for two years before Charlotte’s office shut down and AT&T transferred her to Texas. After two years in Texas, they moved her back to Oakland, and all the moving started to wear on them, so they bought a house in Fairfield after she retired.
Moving Back To California
Charlotte loved working with AT&T, and even though she retired, she took a part-time job with the company in Temecula. She, unfortunately, fell ill and passed away after 15 years of marriage at their home in Peoria, Arizona. Over the years, he stayed in contact with his children. After his wife passed away, Deanna and Gina did not want him by himself, so they found Renaissance Village Murrieta and moved him into the community to be closer to them and his grandchildren. Deanna has a boy and a girl, and Gina has a 19-year-old daughter that is currently considering joining The Navy. David has four children, two boys, and two girls, and they live in Idaho. George likes living at Renaissance Villages. He enjoys the facilities, service, opportunities to meet new people, and participating in various activities.
