EDMONDS, George Howard
North Andover, MA.
George Howard Edmonds, a long time New England prep school English teacher and school volunteer coordinator, has died, aged 90. Born in Wyomissing, PA, in 1931, to George Henry and Anna Fasnacht Edmonds, he attended local schools. He excelled academically, played basketball, baseball, and ran track with state honors in the broad jump and relay. He attended Amherst College, where he graduated BA in American Studies in 1953. He then enlisted in the United States Army, serving in Counterintelligence in Germany.
Upon return to the United States, he embarked on what would become a lifelong dedication to teaching, obtaining his M.Ed. from Harvard, with initial teaching stints at then Governor Dummer and Thayer Academies. In 1959, he met and married Patricia Hope, also an English teacher, and in 1961, they moved to Phillips Academy, Andover, where he joined the English Department and took on housemaster and coaching duties. Their first son was born that year on George’s 30th birthday. A second son arrived in 1964. For 20 years, he taught English and oversaw Andover’s search and rescue team, canoeing program, and outing club, also coaching soccer and squash.
An avid outdoorsman, he enjoyed developing and working in woodlands he owned in Francestown, NH. He also dedicated himself to trail work and development with the Andover Village Improvement Society and a similar organization in North Andover.
In 1981, he embarked on a new phase of his career, starting and leading school volunteer programs in neighboring Lawrence. His objective was spawned by his taking Phillips Academy students to volunteer at the Boys Club and grew to his leading over 600 volunteers in 17 public schools in Lawrence with funding obtained from several foundations, expanded from an initial reading program to math and other subjects.
He and his wife both retired in 1995 and embarked on two decades of travel and intellectual pursuits, including his writing and publishing three books focused on the history and industry of his hometown, Wyomissing. He also engaged heavily in Amherst alumni activities. They eventually moved to the Edgewood community in North Andover and there he continued his passions, building and maintaining trails in the woodlands surrounding Lake Cochichewick, and starting and leading another volunteer reading program at the John Breen School in Lawrence, enlisting many Edgewood residents, up to the time of his death.
He is survived by wife, Pat; sons,
Tom (Ann) and Geoff (Colleen); and grandsons, Brian, Alexander, and Timothy. He was predeceased by granddaughter, Meghan.
A Memorial Service will be conducted on November 12, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. at the North Parish of North Andover Unitarian Universalist Church. Contributions in his name can be made to The Edgewood Residents Volunteer Reading Program c/o Edgewood Retirement Community, 575 Osgood Street, North Andover, MA 01845.