LILA GENE GEORGE
1918-2017
Lila Gene George
1918-2017 Lila Gene George, age 99, passed away on December 22, 2017, in her home in Wharton, TX, a town whose closely knit community provided her with abundant love and care during the last 35 years of her life. Born on September 25, 1918, to Eugene Preston Plowe and Lila Pickle, Lila Gene spent most of her childhood in Elk City, Kansas until her stepfather, Dr. J. G. Kennedy, passed away when she was a mere thirteen years old. Lila Gene and her mother moved to Oklahoma City, to be near Lila Gene’s grandparents.
After graduating from the University of Oklahoma with degrees in English and French (1939) and Music Theory (1940), she met Richard P. (“Dick”) George and the two married on September 11, 1941, a marriage that would last for the next sixty six years, ended by Dick’s passing. Lila Gene often described these as her most meaningful years, and who could blame her? Because of Dick’s U.S. Army service and his career as a petroleum engineer, the two of them moved sixteen times together, experiencing the world from Peru to the Netherlands and all throughout the United States. During this time, her career as a musician flourished, as she presented lecture recitals everywhere she went to introduce North American music to South America and American music to Europe.
Her passion for music led Lila Gene to pursue additional musical studies at Northwestern University (1950) and Columbia University (1963-65), as well as to spend a decade of summers under the guidance of the esteemed Nadia Boulanger in Fontainebleau, France.
Lila Gene is predeceased by her parents, her stepfather, and her late husband. Surviving are her daughter Eugenia George, MD, and close family friend Peter Jacobson, her son and daughter-in-law, Richard P. George, Jr. and Monica George, and her grandchildren, Coulter H. George, Anna L. George, Alan J. George, and Matthew P. George. The family is grateful to Rebecca Jimenez, Mary Hayes, Lupe Rivera, Bridgette Shelton, and Jason, Deborah, and Taylor Donahue, for their tender and loving care of Lila Gene during the past several months. A memorial service will be held on Thursday, January 4, 2018, at 11:00AM at St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church (207 Bob-O-Link Ln, Wharton, TX 77488). In lieu of flowers, please consider donations in Lila Gene’s memory to St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church in Wharton (http://www.stthomas-wharton.org), Doctors Without Borders (https://donate. doctorswithoutborders.org/ onetime.cfm?type=tribute) or Wharton County SPOT Stray Pet Outreach Team (http:// www.wcspot.net/donate).