Obituary: Lifelong learner George Gleeson loved to teach

George Gleeson called it the "rent-a-kid" program.

It was his humorous way of talking about the students he sponsored to attend DeLaSalle or other private high schools, one of the many ways Gleeson cared for young people.

After a career in finance and accounting, Gleeson spent the last 28 years of his life teaching, formally at the University of St. Thomas and informally with the students he helped send to local schools.

Gleeson, 83, died on Dec. 7 of cardiac arrest in a Minneapolis hospital. He had been undergoing treatment for liver cancer and kidney failure for several months. His wife of 47 years, Virginia Gleeson, was by his side.

During the summer months, some of those students would come to his home in south Minneapolis and he would teach them how to build a retaining wall, cultivate a healthy yard or paint a building.

During the school year, Gleeson was an adjunct instructor at the University of St. Thomas, where he taught classes in engineering and business.

Gleeson was born in 1931 and moved from the Chicago area to Minneapolis at the age of 10. A graduate of DeLaSalle High School and the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management, Gleeson continued to learn throughout his life, pursuing a wide range of hobbies from gardening to refurbishing furniture. His nurturing tendencies were balanced by a quick, endearing Irish wit.

Gleeson was a demanding teacher and one of the most personable, Zimmerman said. And he had a four-legged teaching aid.

"George took a strong personal interest in each of his students," Zimmerman said. "To entertain them and to make a point, he would frequently refer to his English bulldog named 'Cash Flow' as an example of the tenacity required to operate profitably over long periods."

Gleeson showed his own tenacity as he taught classes almost up until his death.

"Whenever he could get there to lecture, I would take him to the classroom in a wheelchair," Virginia Gleeson said. "Those kids were so important to him."

He regaled students and teaching colleagues with one-liners and clever metaphors in order to make a point.

Gleeson's dynamic teaching style was built on 46 years of business experience. He worked for several computer data companies and wore a variety of hats, including accounting manager, controller, senior consultant, contracts officer and chief financial officer.

He was an advocate in the classroom and boardroom for corporate responsibility and ethics on the part of management.

"You couldn't describe him as a Republican or a Democrat, but you could describe him as responsible," said Zimmerman, who also worked with him in the private sector. "More than any CFO I've ever known, he was so in touch with the people of the company."

Gleeson is survived by his wife, Virginia, and sister, Frances Lamm.