George Herbert Sanderson, 88, of Clinton
CLINTON >> George Herbert Sanderson, 88, died at home on March 31, 2017. He was born on June 28, 1928, in Clinton, Mass., the only child of Albert and Alice Sanderson.
He is survived by his wife of 57 years, June Sanderson; his daughters, Janet Leavens of Orlando, Fla., and Jill Sanderson (Mosqueda); and two grandchildren, Emma and Peter Mosqueda of Reading, Mass.
George served in the U.S. Army from 1946-1948 and was stationed in Tokyo. He wound up falling in love with Japanese culture and later decorated his house with lovingly tended bonsais. Soon after his return, he took advantage of the G.I. Bill and enrolled in Worcester Polytechnic Institute, which granted him a BS in Electrical Engineering with honors. He continued at WPI for a Masters in EE while supporting himself by working for the school’s Hydraulic Laboratory as an instrumentation engineer. He graduated with high honors in 1954.
He was employed for almost 40 years by Sperry (which later became Unisys) at Lake Success, Long Island. An expert in both hardware and software, George worked on a wide variety of projects, including a computer graphics system and a wind profiler. He was highly respected for his insight and exceptional problemsolving ability and would be called onto other projects to expedite thing as the delivery date approached.
It was at Sperry where he met his future wife, June Schramm, in 1958. As they were working in adjacent departments, they kept the engagement secret until about two weeks before the wedding. He and June were married in June of 1959.
George retired in 1993. After traveling all over the country looking for an ideal area, he and June ended up purchasing a small forest in the Town of Clinton, N.Y. Over the course of two years, they built a passive solar house on the property (preserving as many trees as possible). It is here that he lived the rest of his life, happy and at home in this natural environment.
George served as a councilman for one term on the Clinton Town Board. He found a church family at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church in Staatsburg, N.Y. His hobbies included plant propagation; drawing; wood carving; story-telling; writing, including illustrated memoirs of his many travels; and choral singing with church choirs and the Bard College Symphonic Chorus.
His closing remark: Life was never dull.
A celebration of George’s life will be held on Saturday, April 22, 2017, at 11 a.m. at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church, Old Post Road and Elm Avenue in Staatsburg, N.Y. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in George’s memory to the Stonecrop Gardens, 81 Stonecrop Lane, Cold Spring, N.Y. 10516.
Arrangements are under the direction of Burnett & White Funeral Homes, 91 E. Market St., Rhinebeck, N.Y.
For directions or to sign the online guest book, please visit www. Burnett-White.com.