George Reeve Filar

George Reeve Filar, 82, of Westminster Oaks Retirement Community, Tallahassee, transitioned from his earthly body on April 28, 2015, after protracted convalescence following a stroke. George had been an active member of the Holy Comforter Episcopal Church since moving to Tallahassee with his family in 1972. Prior to his retirement in 1995, he had been employed by the Florida Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. George was born March 21, 1933, in Warsaw, Indiana, to Beatrice Florence and George Leon Filar, both deceased, and he was preceded in death by his only sister, Beatrice Marie Sawyer. He is survived by his current wife, Eunice Filar, who were married in 1995, and by four children from his prior marriage: Karen Watts and Craig Filar, both of Tallahassee; David Filar of San Francisco, CA; and Ken Filar of New York, NY, as well as two grandsons, Andrew Watts of Athens, GA, and Michael Watts of Atlanta, GA. Moving with his family from Indiana to Florida in his teens, George graduated from Gulf High School in New Port Richey, lettering in football, basketball, and baseball. He subsequently enlisted in the Army, serving from 1952 to 1955 and rising to Sergeant in the 10th Special Forces Group. After discharge from the Army, he married the former Joan Hicks of Dade City, FL, in 1956. He returned to Indiana to attend Valparaiso University on the GI bill. George worked nights at U.S. Steel, in Gary, IN, and also picked up occasional work as a security guard at each of the major league baseball parks in Chicago (though he always favored the White Sox), and so managed to indulge one of his favorite past-times. He went back to school after several years working for the State of Florida, earning a MSW from Northeastern University in Boston, MA, in 1969. In addition to baseball and fishing, George loved dogs, as well as travel, logging hundreds of thousands of miles on the road both as a state employee, and simply for the sheer joy of going places with his loved ones or on his own. He was also an avid, life-long reader, claiming to have read all of the children's books in his local library by age 11. In later years, as macular degeneration made reading difficult, he became an early adopter and voracious consumer of audiobooks. A memorial service will be held at Holy Comforter Episcopal Church, 2015 Fleischmann Road, on May 8, 2015, at 4:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Habitat for Humanity (www.habitat.org), Bright Focus Foundation (www.brightfocus.org), which funds research for macular degeneration in addition to glaucoma and Alzheimer's, or to Holy Comforter Episcopal Church. Kelly Barber of Bevis Funeral Home (www.bevisfh.com, 850-385-2193) is assisting the family with their arrangements.

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George Reeve Filar

March 21, 1933 - April 28, 2015