Obituary

George W. Wire

George was born January 13, 1933 in Irvington, New Jersey and grew up in the neighboring township of Hillside. He was the son of Hillside police detective George Wire and Laura (Palmer) Wire and a proud descendent of militiamen who fought in the American Revolution.

George’s father passed away when George was only 7 years old and George and his mother moved temporarily to rural Sussex County to live with relatives. There they learned the hardships of country life with no electricity, gas, or indoor plumbing, and George attended third grade in a country school house that taught grades 1 through 8 in a single room heated by a pot belly stove fed with firewood chopped by the schoolboys. When he and his Mom returned to Hillside a year later, it was with a much greater appreciation of the amenities they had previously taken for granted.

Soon after graduating from high school George enlisted in the Navy and served in the Korean War as a corpsman aboard the aircraft carrier Lake Champlain. After the war, he was transferred to the Naval Advanced Base in Bremerhaven, Germany, and it was there that he met his wife-to-be Christa. George served in the Navy for 20 years and rose through the ranks from Seaman Recruit to Lt. Cmdr. His decorations included the Combat Action Ribbon and Korean Service Medal among others.

After leaving the Navy he pursued a career in hospital food service management and in 1985 while employed at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach he was named a Distinguished Food Service Administrator by the American Hospital Association.

George was predeceased by his parents and sister Jean and is survived by his wife Christa, daughter Susan York of Laguna Niguel, son and daughter-in-law George Jr. (USN Ret.) and Concepcion Wire of Laguna Hills, and grandson Kenneth Wire, currently serving in the U.S. Marine Corps.