George A. Denardo

Obituary & Life History

GEORGE A. DENARDO, Lt. Col. USAF, ret. George A. Denardo, 78 years of age, passed away peacefully at home on July 24, 2010 with his family by his side...

GEORGE A. DENARDO, Lt. Col. USAF, ret.

George A. Denardo, 78 years of age, passed away peacefully at home on July 24, 2010 with his family by his side after a short battle with lung cancer. George was born in Newark, New Jersey on February 13, 1932 to Matthew and Lillian Denardo, the youngest of five children. He spent his childhood through college years in Maplewood, New Jersey graduating in 1950 from Columbia High School. In 1954 he graduated from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey. An ROTC cadet throughout his college years, he was commissioned a 2nd Lt. in the United States Air Force on the morning of graduation.

June 1954 was a memorable month for George. Not only did he graduate college, receive his Air Force commission but married on June 19th Lois Bailey of Fords, New Jersey. Their four children were born in various locations during their early years in the Air Force as George trained for and became a Radar Interceptor Officer flying “back seat” in the F89, F94 and F101. Arriving at Oxnard Air Force Base in Camarillo, CA in July 1963 he logged over 1000 hours in the F101. The lovely town of Camarillo quickly stole their hearts and they decided this would be their permanent home.

After leaving the Air Force he worked a few years with System Development Corp. designing air defense missions until major layoffs hit the defense industry. In seeking other employment, he found, through employment agencies, he scored high in the field of sales, a new an unexplored field for him. George then chose to follow that path and was hired by Allstate Insurance Company for whom he worked the next 22 years retiring in 1992.

An avid sports fan, George enjoyed the game of golf for many years, but primarily his first love was, and remained, baseball and most especially the New York Yankees. George shared his love of the sport as coach and manager of little league baseball teams in Camarillo for approximately 10+ years, returning to coach in the 80’s to find he was now coaching the next generation of some of his former players. When no longer playing golf, poker at the senior center became his passion. The enjoyment and camaraderie of his playing partners added to the enjoyment of these Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.

Retirement gave him the opportunity to pursue a long held desire to write. An avid reader and a great storyteller, he has had several short articles published in Reminisce.
He did realize the satisfaction of accomplishing his goal of writing a novel based on his experiences in the Air Force. The main character was a composite of him and his many squadron mates during those wonderful years. This exercise in writing filled many idle hours and accomplished a long held dream.

With the retirement of his wife in 1993 it was now time to realize their dreams of traveling and they did just that with many European land excursions and cruises. A real joy was when they took their three grandchildren on a foreign trip as each reached 13 years of age.

George leaves behind a loving family, his wife of 56 years, Lois, son James of Flower Mound, TX, son Brian (Sue) of Camarillo, daughter Lynn Preiss (Stephen), Camarillo and son Thomas of Kansas City, MO. His three grandchildren Barbara Denardo, Michelle Denardo and Matthew Preiss all of Camarillo. Sisters Madeline Sprenger of Middletown, NJ and Frances Martin (Herbert) of Columbia, MD plus numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents Matthew and Lillian Denardo and brothers Matthew and Jack Denardo, and niece Daria Martin.