Northpinellas: Memorial honors dedicated friend

The gray, 2,000-pound Alabama-mined boulder has a bronze plaque affixed to it, and lies on a soft bed of pine needles in the lush grass of a small private park in President's Landing, an upscale community in the Lansbrook subdivision.

The plaque says: "In memory of Robert "Bob' George -- 1957-1999 -- A loyal & dedicated friend of President's Landing Homeowner's Association."

Mr. George had walked near the spot many times before his life was cut short in May 1999, by an insect sting suffered in the peanut fields outside Marianna in Florida's Panhandle.

Earlier this month, a group of about 60 of Mr. George's family and friends gathered at the park to dedicate the memorial and pay their respects to a man they loved.

"It was quite an affair. It went off beautifully," said Mr. George's father, Harry George. "It was a real outpouring of sentiment from President's Landing."

The crowd was brought to tears when Mr. George's teenage daughter, Mandy, got up to speak.

"She got up and kicked the rock and said, "This rock is as strong and supportive as everyone in this neighborhood. Our relationship is just like this rock. You've been good to us,' " said Laurie George, Mandy's mother.

Mrs. George added she thought her husband was the most wonderful man in the world and is glad others in the community shared the feeling.

Mr. George, 41, was an F-16 fighter pilot for the Air Force before joining Delta Air Lines to fly commercial jets.

When he died, he was enjoying a Memorial Day weekend with his wife, daughter and son, Ty, and extended-family members. While riding a four-wheel all-terrain vehicle with his sister, Patty George Rogers, he was stung by an insect on his left temple, and, despite Rogers' frantic efforts to revive him, he died in a matter of minutes.

According to the Bay County medical examiner, Mr. George had a severe allergic reaction to the bite.

Despite losing his son at a relatively early age, Harry George harbors no bitterness.

"I feel it was a natural cause," he said. "The insect was doing what comes naturally."

Recently, a small bouquet of wilting flowers tied up with red and gold ribbon stood upright against the boulder.

Former neighbors Jim and Lynne Prain used to see Mr. George near where the flowers were, standing over a table by a tree, barbecue fork in one hand and a freshly prepared plate for a neighbor in another. When someone approached, they recalled, his grin would broaden into a smile and he would shout, "Hey, man, glad you could make it. Let me get you a chair."

To him, this was home.

"We put the memorial at the park because when people go down to the park to launch a boat or have a picnic, they will remember Bob," said Irv DeToro, Mr. George's neighbor from across the street.

DeToro remembers Mr. George this way: "When you called him to give you a hand or called him to come to the gate because something was wrong with it his response was always the same, "I'll be there in five minutes,' " DeToro said.

About a year ago, Al Wagner, who was the homeowner's association treasurer, came up with the idea to create the monument. He led the effort to get the homeowner's association board to let him and a group of friends put a permanent memorial in the park. Then he asked neighbors to help fund the project. They didn't hesitate.

Soon the $1,000 necessary to buy the stone from a company in Largo, and the plaque from a business in Texas, was raised.

But the residents went one step further. They voted to name the park President's Landing Memorial Park in honor of Mr. George.

Roger Johnson, Mr. George's next-door-neighbor, said he had only known Mr. George for four years, "but I wish I had known him longer."

"The thing about Florida is, we're all transplants," Johnson said. "When you come together, you have to look out for one another."

Mr. George, he said, was the person who pulled the neighborhood together. Once, the park dock was in need of staining, so the homeowners association solicited bids from various companies. The estimates were pricey.

"Bob said, "We got kids. This isn't rocket science, we can do it,' " Johnson remembered. "Five or six people worked on it. Staining that dock took five days. It was a ball. We teased each other, we just had fun. As much stain fell into the water as on the dock."

Mrs. George said she plans to go down to the dock when the sun sets in the evenings, stopping along the way at the memorial.

"I'll get my bottle of wine, go down to the end of the dock and sit and think about him," she said.

- Eileen Schulte can be reached at (727) 445-4229 or schulte@sptimes.com.

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