George F. Ervin was born on October 28, 1923 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He passed away peacefully at the Alexander Cohen Hospice House on January 30, 2016 at the age of 92. George was born to Joseph Ervin and Florence Roeder. He was the youngest son having an older brother, James, who died in 1966.

George Ervin married Aileene Donavan in 1944 and they remained married for over sixty years until her death in 2005. Together they had two children. The oldest is Ann Jackson living in Fort Worth, Texas with her husband, Robert Jackson. The youngest is Lee Ervin residing in Modesto, California with his wife, Jeanne Abbott. George had two grandsons and five great grandchildren.

George served in the US Navy as a pilot. Upon his discharge he completed college at the University of Nebraska where he studied engineering and became a lifelong Cornhusker fan. A frequent mantra from George was "Go Big Red!"

In 1954 George began his career with a position at the California Institute of Technology's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena. He was one of many scientists and engineers working in the early space program. He was assigned Capsule Systems Sterilization Engineer for the Voyager spacecraft, and later developed the NASA planetary quarantine handbook that was used in the Viking launch. He concluded his career in 1990 as the Project Manager for the Galileo launch to Jupiter.

George enjoyed Cornhusker football, camping, skiing, boating and piloting his Beechcraft Musketeer. He traveled the world with Aileene, and enjoyed his family and friends. Later in life he took up racquetball, and he always enjoyed a rousing game of cribbage.

He will be missed by all that knew him. His journey ended peacefully having had a very full life. In memory of George any contributions to Community Hospice would be appreciated.

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Published by Modesto Bee on Feb. 7, 2016.

George Frederick Ervin (1923)