The other night – when I was thinking about all the wonderful things  people had said about dad during his visitation, and  memorial service – it occurred to me that I have been so busy grieving, worrying, and being angry since he died, that there was something very important I had not given any thought to. I realized I had forgotten about the SPROUTS. I am not referring to bean sprouts or Brussels sprouts, I am talking about all the little sprouts dad left ALL OVER the world.

It appears that my dad was one of those kinds of bosses that had extremely high expectations for the people that worked for him,  and liked to push people outside of their comfort zones. He would put people in situations where they could learn that they were more capable at accomplishing something than they thought they were. He also showed a willingness to take chances on people – especially young people – that others would have passed by. Although there were times at work that dad could appear to be an angry bear, many people were more afraid of disappointing him than facing his anger. I also learned that dad’s kind, caring, and generous ways extended to more than just his family. I heard several people refer to him as their mentor, grandfather like, and a father figure. These are things that people will remember, and use when they are in a similar position.

One of the young people that dad took a chance on – dad hired him immediately after he got out of the navy, and knew him from the time he was a little boy – was just beside himself with grief. During the visitation, he shared a couple things with my family. One was that my dad was the person who taught him how to throw a baseball properly. The other was, dad taking a chance on him was the reason he was able to live the lifestyle he currently had. In my heart, I believe that this young man will always remember the impact dad had on his life, and when the opportunity presents itself to be a strong, positive influence on a young person’s life, he will SEIZE it.

Because of what my dad did for a living – for most of my life it was dealing with nuclear energy in some form or another – he had the unique opportunity to travel to many places in the world. One of those places was China – where he lived for 5 1/2 years. It was there that he implemented training procedures for nuclear power plants that the Chinese still use today. Personally, I think his biggest legacy there was teaching several of the Chinese men – who worked for him – how to make American style hamburgers.

Quite a few of the people that dad worked with took the time to write down some thoughts and memories they had about him.

One lady wrote:

I owe George so much -from my first month here George always threw me where there was trouble. Things I didn’t think I could handle -he threw me at and when I struggled the most he just stood there and smiled and said nothing. Then he would ask me after it was all over – “What did you learn?” he had a plan the whole time and I was and am grateful to have been in it. Quality – Quality- Quality – that was George in every way. We will all miss him terribly.

Part of what another person shared:

George was such a wonderful leader and mentor to so many of us. I recall several instances when you would see him become very passionate. The first one was when he talked about sports or in his case the” University of Kentucky”. The second was when he had the opportunity to mentor/develop individuals like myself that were new to the nuclear industry… My life is so much richer for having known him…

I love how part of this letter refers to dad’s sprouts:

…I also admire George’s outlook on the nuclear way of life. While he set high expectations for everyday performance, George also realized that nuclear would die without the infusion of new blood needed to transition the old dogs of the program to the youth of the program. Not only did George demonstrate this on a frequent basis, George promoted the staffing by young men and women who had not one technical degree of nuclear knowledge. Yes because of George’s attitude, the George seeds have been planted and our department consists of a  fair number of people learning the values demonstrated by George. It is almost like George has 30 or so little nuclear Georges developing into the dedicated, professional, and principled leader he was.

He even had an impact on his family. One of his Cousins wrote this about him:

Doc – his family called him Doc – was always a hero to me. Yes, he had a hard life growing up, but look what he became… He will be so missed, yet his life should be celebrated…

I consider these, and the other memories shared with us gifts. They allowed me to get to know dad in a way I never had before. I am filled with joy at the thought that the sprouts he left behind will grow into the strong person he was.