George was born in Missoula, Montana in l944, one of four children in a “blue collar” family with second generation immigrant parents.  He attended schools there, graduating from Missoula Sentinel High School in l962 and from the University of Montana in l967 with a BA, With Honors, in History.  George worked his way through the university by working nights at a local lumber mill and as a groundskeeper for the university.

Growing up in western Montana, George learned to love the outdoors. Family camping and fishing trips were often a highlight of his early years.  He still visits his small cabin in the Nine Mile Valley, located just northwest of Missoula, on a regular basis.

Shortly after graduating from the University, he met his wife, Kathleen, a native of Coeur d’Alene, and they married there in l968.  In that same year George was drafted and entered the Army.  After a brief stint in Virginia, George was sent to Vietnam, where he served from l968 to l969.

After completing his military service, George attended Hartford Seminary in Connecticut, and graduated from there in l973 with an MA in Religious Studies.

George and Kathleen returned to Coeur d’Alene in l972 and have lived here since. For the first two years he worked at the old Diamond International lumber mill and earned his teacher certification by commuting to the University of Idaho.  George began teaching at Coeur d’Alene High School in the fall of l974 and has taught there until the present.  His wife is also a teacher there.

Blessed with two daughters and a single income, George supplanted his beginning teacher’s salary by painting houses during the summer for ten years, and by teaching night classes at NIC for several years.

During his teaching career George has received numerous awards and recognition.  For example, he was recognized by the American Legion for student participation in the American Legion Oratorical Contest and the Veterans of Foreign Wars for student participation in the Voice of Democracy contest.  He was recognized as a Whittenberger Fellow and attended a two- week program on the Bill of Rights at Albertson College, and he was chosen to attend the Taft Institute on Two Party Government at the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah.  Several times George was chosen as a teacher of the year for Coeur d’Alene High School and he was the Secondary Teacher of the Year for the Coeur d’Alene School District in 2001-2002.

George has also been involved professionally and in a number of community activities. He been a member of IEA and CEA throughout his teaching career, and served on the CEA Health Insurance Committee for over ten years.  He has been an ordained elder in the First Presbyterian Church since l980, and recently finished four years on the board of the Coeur d’ Alene Audubon Society.  George has also participated as a coach in community basketball and softball programs, and advisor to several high school clubs.

Although teaching and legislative duties allow little spare time, George’s hobbies include reading, photography, camping, bird watching, and on occasion, picking huckleberries.

George ran and was elected to the House of Representatives in 2002.  He serves on the Education, Resources and Conservation, and Environmental Affairs Committees, and is also an ad hoc member of the Natural Resources Interim Committee studying water issues throughout Idaho.