"Grandaddy" Marvin Lewis George

In June of 1942 Marvin filled out his draft registration card for World War II. He listed his father as his closest contact and also indicated that he was working on his father's farm. He gave his height as 6'2" and weight as 170. He marked that his eyes were blue, his hair was brown and his complexion was "ruddy."

In January of 1945 Marvin took the army entrance examination and on March 12th he got his induction papers. On March the 31st he asked Savilla Alease Bush of Alfonso to marry him. She was the daughter of John Elbert Bush and Maida Ruth Haynie. Marvin was inducted into the army on April the 2nd of 1945 at Fort Meade in Maryland and left for basic training at Camp Blanding in Florida on the 6th. Alease graduated from Lively High School on May 31st, 1945.

Marvin spent the rest of summer in Florida. In early August the United States dropped atomic bombs on Japan. Japan announced their surrender on August the 15th. Marvin arrived home the following day for furlough. He and Alease were married on August 25th at the parsonage of J.L. Waldrep in Lancaster county. Marvin reported to Fort Meade again three days later for deployment.

He was shipped across the country by train to San Francisco, California. On October 12th, 1945 Marvin departed for Yokohama, Japan on the MS Sea Witch a 438 foot cargo ship. They landed in Japan on November 2nd. He drove a bulldozer and worked at cleaning up damage from the war. He served as a Corporal in the 306th Engineer Combat Battalion, 81st Infantry Division. He spent one year in Japan. Marvin arrived back in the U.S. on October 23rd, 1946 aboard the S.S. Costa Rica Victory. He was honorably discharged from the service on December 10th, 1946.

In the 1950 census Marvin and Alease were listed as living with his parents, his father's brother, and their two year old daughter. Marvin and his father were both reported as working for 78 hours the previous week as farmers.

Sometime after 1950 Marvin started his own heating and air conditioning business. His daughter Maida was born in 1957. The family lived at the George Family home-place in Lynhams with Marvin's parents and uncle Lloyd. They were members at Morattico Baptist Church. Marvins's mother passed away in 1951. When Gordon and Lloyd's health declined he and Alease took care of them. They also took in and cared for Alease's mentally handicapped sister Jenny. In January of 1958 Marvin was selected as a deacon at Morattico.

Because of some family disputes with siblings over living at the George Home-place and taking care of his father, they moved out. Gordon D. moved to the nearby "Redd House," and in 1963 drew up a deed to sell the house to Marvin in exchange for his care and monthly payments of $35 for a total of $4,000. Gordon D. died in 1968 and months later Marvin paid off the balance of the debt to the estate.

On March 17th 1978 Marvin suffered a heart attack, he was only 55. He spent a week at the VA Hospital in Richmond. Much of the rest of his life was spent in and out of hospitals. He continued having heart troubles, eventually having valve replacement, bypass surgeries and a pacemaker. Later his kidneys failed and he had to start taking dialysis several times a week. Marvin passed away on March 24th, 1999 at Rappahannock General Hospital at 11:25 P.M. He is buried at Morattico Baptist Church.