George Warren Schuyler

George W Schuyler, of Silver Spring, Maryland, died at Casey House Montgomery Hospice on December 2, 2018. He was 83. George’s death followed a heroic four-month effort to overcome aggressive lymphoma complicated by Parkinson’s disease. He died as he lived, at peace and surrounded by many of his loved ones. George was a loving husband and father, also embraced by a broad community of friends and family. We relied on George for his kind heart and his unfailing eagerness to listen to all our stories, whether they were tragic or poignant, funny or sober. With his easy, mischievous, and contagious smile, George could find the humor in almost any situation. Yet he was capable of tremendous compassion and able to offer thoughtful counsel to anyone with the good fortune to be in his company, even when overwhelmed by his own work. He was steadfast: our calm in the storm, our warm place, our safe place. George’s professional life demonstrated his commitment to service, scholarship, and teaching. After undergraduate studies at Yale University, George served for four years in the U.S. Marines, where he rose to the rank of Captain. Afterwards, he returned to the academy, pursuing graduate studies at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and, ultimately, earning his doctoral degree from Stanford University. Focusing his teaching and research on Latin American history, George held numerous academic positions, including Director of the Ibero-American Studies Program at the State University of New York at Stony Brook; Fulbright-Hays Scholar at the Central University of Venezuela in Caracas; Director of the International Education Center at St. Mary’s University in Halifax (Nova Scotia); and Chair of the History Department at the University of Central Arkansas. George authored numerous studies on development in Latin America, including Hunger in a Land of Plenty (1980) and Canada and Cuba: A New Policy for the 1990s (1994). George sought to bring a true understanding of the reality of Cuban and Venezuelan development through his experiences with organizations such as the Nova Scotia-Cuba Association and with Witness for Peace. As these credentials suggest, his passion for advancing social justice, by explicating the daily challenges of poverty and development faced by many Latin Americans, consistently animated his professional life. Born in Syracuse, George loved to travel and lived in many places, including Canada where, during the late 1970s, George and Pat “went back to the land” (almost)—growing their own vegetables organically and maintaining a timber lot to stoke their wood stove through the long New Brunswick winters. George and Pat also lived on Long Island and in Halifax, Caracas, Fort Erie, and Conway (Arkansas) before beginning a very active retirement in Washington DC, living on Capitol Hill for eleven years. George and Pat traveled frequently—both nationally and internationally—relishing trips that often revolved around time with children and grandchildren. Over the last few years, George cheerfully plunged into an energetic quest to keep his Parkinson’s disease from interfering with his joy-filled life. In the process he made many new friends, especially those in his beloved Rock Steady Boxing for Parkinson’s group. We will miss George’s sense of calm. We will miss his sense of humor and his kindness. We will miss our many games of pinochle, and we will miss that mischievous smile, a constant especially when he was doing gelato “research.” George is survived by his wife of 44 years, Patricia Lawston Schuyler; children Ann Schuyler, John Schuyler, Sharon (Bob) Freeman & Lisa (Bill) Ruskowski-McGlone; and grandchildren, Ricky Jehan Noel, Jake Freeman, Luke Freeman, Allison McGlone & Maria McGlone. George is also survived by his sister, Harriet Pope of Syracuse, NY. He will be sorely missed by numerous nieces and nephews, whom he cherished. George was preceded in death by his sister, Nancy Tobin, and a son, Tony Ruskowski, both of whom died in 2016. Cremation is planned at The National Funeral Home, 7482 Lee Highway, Falls Church, VA which is part of the Murphy Funeral Homes, 4510 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA. The family has not planned a public memorial service but welcome those who knew George to share their memories and wishes for the family on the Murphy Funeral Home website. (https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/arlington-va/george-schuyler-8075711) In lieu of flowers, the family urges donations in his memory to any of the following organizations, whose work George valued: Grassroots International, https://grassrootsonline.org Planned Parenthood, https://www.plannedparenthood.org Witness for Peace, http://witnessforpeace.org