George Joseph Gruber

George was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1920 to Anton and Elizabeth Gruber who immigrated from Czechoslovakia. He had two sisters (Mary and Millie) and five brothers (Ed, Hank, Jerry, Richard, and Tony). George grew up in Cleveland and attended Warren G. Harding Elementary School which is featured in the movie "A Christmas Story", but he did not stick his tongue on the flag pole. George joined the Conversation Corp after high school and served in the Army Air Force in North Africa and Italy during World War II.

After World War II, George attended Ohio State University where he received a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy. He was a pharmacy graduate student at Michigan State University where he met Ann Jeannette Sullivan, another pharmacy graduate student. They were married in 1951 at St. James Episcopal Church in Meeker, Colorado. George received a Master Degree in Public Health with emphasis on radiologcial health from the University of Pittsburgh in 1964. He received an Honorary Diploma from the United States Army Chaplain School at Fort Hamilton, New York in 1966. He retired from the service with the rank of Captain.

George had a 30+ year career in health occupations:

1951-1964 Pharmacist, United States Public Health Service (USPHS)

1964-1968 Course Director, USPHS Center for Radiological Health

1968-1969 Pharmacy Director, Shasta General Hospital in Redding California

1969-1970 Assistant Professor and Health Physicist, University of Missouri at Columbia

1970-1980 Health Occupations Supervisor, Lakeshore Technical Institute at Cleveland, Wisconsin

1980-1981 Part time relief pharmacist

1981-1982 Radiation Protection Instructor at the University of Washington

1982-1995 Part time relief pharmacist

George and Jeannette lived throughout the United States:

1951-1953 San Juan, Puerto Rico

1953-1955 Seattle, Washington

1955-1957 Savannah, Georgia

1957-1961 Santa Venetia, California (just south of san Rafael)

1961-1962 Springfield, Missouri

1962-1964 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

1964-1966 Silver Springs, Maryland

1966-1968 Rockville, Maryland

1968-1970 Redding, California

1970-1980 Sheboygan, Wisconsin

1980-1981 Sacramento, California

1981-1982 Seattle, Washington

1982-1998 Colorado Springs, Colorado

1998-2004 Aurora, Colorado

2004-2013 Littleton, Colorado

George and Jeannette had many dogs:

1956 Erfie(puppy found on an uninhabited near Savannah by a railroad worker-neighbor)

1960-1972 Alvin (springer spaniel)

1978-1990 Sam (english spaniel) and Goldie (cocker spaniel)

1990-2000 Charlie Brown (west highland terrier)

1991-2003 Lucy (west highland terrier)

2002-2012 Annie (black lab)

2004-2013 Charlie 2 (west highland terrier)

George was an active father who participated in YMCA Indian Guides, Boy Scouts, roller skating, and swimming.

George was a member of Heritage United Methodist Church where he helped collect and distribute food for this in need.

George is survived by his wife, Jeannette; sons, George Patrick and Robert Kelvin; and grandson Nicholas Richard.