My cousin Douglas C. George passed away on Wednesday, December 4th, 2013 after a brief and unexpected struggle with stomach cancer.
Doug was a very private man and preferred to live his life in the background. He quietly went about his daily life and was one of the kindest, most patient, and most gentle souls I've met.
He served our generation and the next generations of Minnesotans by researching, documenting, and preserving the heritage of the past generations of Minnesotans as an archaeologist with the Minnesota Historical Society and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
Through his efforts; the story of our history; both historic and pre-historic; and the artifacts that tell that history have been preserved for all time.
Doug worked especially hard to preserve and protect the story of the first peoples of Minnesota but also was respectful of recent history too. His writings and work document our timeline from that of the Paleo-Indians 12,000 years ago to Iron Range development less than 50 years ago. When one considers that a written language has only been in Minnesota for about 375 years, the work to preserve what we can preserve becomes all the more important. It's no surprise that when we want to build a scenic overlook or a picnic ground in a state park, we're choosing the same beautiful vistas that the original settlers of Minnesota chose too. Doug worked to protect these same sites and sights for my kids, their kids and their kids too.
Although he preferred to live in the background, I want to make sure that his work and the importance of that work doesn't go unnoticed or unappreciated during our time.
To Douglas George, all Minnesotans owe you a debt of gratitude.
