George Emerson Quaile died in Savannah on the 10th of May, 2009. He began his life January 12th, 1928, in Lakeville, Connecticut. He was the first child and only son of Charlotte Milmine Quaile and Emerson Blauvelt Quaile. George's life ended after a bout with cancer and a failed heart.
George grew up in Lakeville at the foot of the Berkshire Mountains. He graduated from Salisbury School, a school founded by his grandfather and where his father was headmaster. He entered Bowdoin College at 16. After his first semester the dean told him to join the Navy and learn to behave. So, at 17 he joined the Navy, went to the Pacific, ended WWII, was readmitted to Bowdoin, and graduated. Although swearing to never board another rocking ship, he sailed across the Pacific again to the Korean War where he served as an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps.
He earned a Masters Degree in Forestry at the University of Michigan, and returned home to practice forestry with his brother-in-law, George Kiefer. After a few years he joined West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company and managed forestlands up and down the East Coast. At 40 he left to rescue a failing paper mill in Maine. After that he started work on a PhD at UGA. Atlantic Creosote Company found him in Athens, hired him away from school, and moved him to Savannah to find trees for poles. George later started a company to dredge industrial settlements ponds. His last venture before fully retiring was making teak outdoor furniture in the QuaileLine.
George's grandfather was an Episcopal minister. He has always been active in Episcopal churches serving on vestries, and as Sunday school teacher, lay reader and Eucharistic Minister. He has been a member of St. Thomas Episcopal Church for 40 years.
He spent many nights supervising homeless shelters in Savannah. In the last decade he tutored math and reading to all ages at the Royce Learning Center.
George became an enthusiastic boater in Savannah. He and his wife Will sailed and motored along the SE coast in their boats, all named Exodus. Together they explored most of the coastal rivers from Savannah to Virginia.
He was a close companion to many, and reveled in humor. George treasured times sitting on his porch on the bluff of the Isle of Hope enjoying life as a "Southerner" and being an old man and curmudgeon. He considered himself a master of any sport or game he played. He mastered and retired from croquet, and returned only to put down upstart grandsons.
George is survived by his wife of 56 years, Will Theus Quaile. His sister Eleanor Legg who lives in Darien, Georgia, also survives him. His other two sisters Mary Louise Buyce and Elizabeth Clement preceded him.
His four children remember suppers with a dictionary, encyclopedia and slide rule on the table; and arguments their father thought he won. His children are Emerson B. Quaile and his wife Robin, Charlotte M. Quaile, and Anne T. Quaile and his "adopted daughter" Eleanor Titus, all of Savannah; and Charlton T. Quaile and his wife Wendy of Pittsboro, NC.
Grandchildren are Hawkins C. Gay, Rebecca P. Gay, J. Usher Gay, Susanna Q. Cover and her husband Michael, Samuel A. Quaile, Joseph D. Quaile, Mary R. Quaile and Grace A. Quaile.
His devoted cousin Charles E. Milmine also survives him.
A Memorial Service will be held on Wednesday, May 13, 2009 at 11 a.m. at St. Thomas Episcopal Church.
Remembrances: Hospice Savannah, Royce Learning Center, St. Thomas Episcopal Church.
FOX AND WEEKS FUNERAL DIRECTORS HODGSON CHAPEL
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