Obituary of George McWilliams

George Calvin McWilliams June 24, 1921 - March 30, 2012. George Calvin McWilliams, 90, of State College, PA, entered into heaven on Friday, March 30, 2012, from his farm in State College, PA. Born June 24, 1921, in Pennsylvania Furnace, PA, he is a son of the late Paul Ethlebert McWilliams, Sr. and Nellie Miller McWilliams and grew up on their family farm. He was preceded in death by his brother, Paul Ethlebert McWilliams, Jr. and his wife Doris Kline McWilliams of Rebersburg, PA. On April 18, 1946, in Pine Grove Mills, PA, he married Phyllis Emeline Hess, his bride of 66 years who survives. He was a member of the Pine Grove Mills Presbyterian Church, the Penn State Varsity S Club, a 75 year member of the Baileyville Grange in Pennsylvania Furnace, PA, The Pennsylvania Holstein Association and a LIFE Member of VFW Post 5825. George played on the football and baseball teams and graduated from Warriors Mark High School in 1939. George and his brother Paul were a formidable baseball duo which George referred to as "Me and Paul". They barnstormed all over Huntingdon and Centre counties prior to World War II and were widely respected and feared as a baseball battery. His baseball scholarship to Pitt was interrupted by the war. He served in the United States 7th Air Force as a radar operator in Hawaii and in the Pacific theater. Then George played football and was the starting baseball catcher for The Penn State Nittany Lions and Vice-President of his class, graduating with a finance degree from The Pennsylvania State University in 1946. George and Phyllis bought the Hess farm on Upper Branch Road (Shingletown Road) from Minnie Kathryn Portzline and Samuel McWilliams Hess and raised champion registered Holstein Friesian heifers and cows and enthusiastically supported their children's 4-H projects. George enjoyed farming, gardening, hunting, fishing and attending games of his favorite Major League Baseball team - the Pittsburgh Pirates for which he and Paul once had a successful tryout. George was the elected Ferguson Township Tax Collector for over 17 years and is responsible for creating the computerized tax collection system still in use today. He was a staunch advocate of education at all levels and a lifetime learner, always on the leading edge of innovations in farming methods in close cooperation with the Agricultural Extension services of The Pennsylvania State University and the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau. George served on the State College Area School Board in a time when the present High School was being built. In addition to his wife Phyllis, he is survived by his four children: Luke Hess McWilliams and his wife Mary of Littleton, CO, Thomas Henry McWilliams and his wife Donna of Webster, NH, Phyllis Ann McWilliams Schmidt of Flemington, NJ. Galen George McWilliams and his wife Kathy of State College, PA, fifteen grandchildren; David and Daniel McWilliams of Webster, NH, Rebecca McWilliams-Meinecke and her husband James of Quincy, MA, Sarah McWilliams of Seattle, WA, Katrina and Cassandra Schmidt of Berkley Heights, NJ, Nickole McWilliams Dreibelbis and her husband Eric of Yulee, FL, Lindsey McWilliams O'Neill and her husband Shawn of Fernandina, FL, Dawn and Ann Steiger of Denver, CO, Heather DeJesus and her husband Dan of Tacoma, WA, and seven great grandchildren; Kristen and Kaden Dreibelbis, Shea and Beck O'Neill, Jonah and Dylan DeJesus and Guy Steiger. The Reverend Carl Campbell will officiate at a gravesite service in Graysville Cemetery, Spruce Creek, Pennsylvania on Tuesday April 3, 2012 at 2:00 pm. Memorial contributions may be made to Pine Grove Presbyterian Church, Pine Grove Mills, PA 16868, or to Baileyville Grange #1991, 284 Deibler Road, Pennsylvania Furnace, PA 16865.