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In Memory of
George Fred
Escher
Escher
1915 - 2016
Memorial Candle Tribute From
Ballard Family Moanalua Mortuary
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Obituary for George Fred Escher
George F. Escher, 101, retired Training Director at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, died in Kailua on July 5. He was born in San Rafael, CA. He is survived by his wife Miriam, his sons Fred, Greg, Steve, daughter Marilyn, and Sharon Parr, Glenn Rediger, Janet Glassford, 15 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren.
George worked at Pearl Harbor until his full retirement in 1975. He retired in 1967 from the Naval Reserve as a Commander. From 1972-75 he was Executive Assistant on the Federal Executive Board.
Services:
Internment at Punchbowl National Memorial Cemetery July 29 at 9:30 AM.
Visitation at First Baptist Church of Waimanalo July 30 at 10 AM; memorial service at 11 AM. Parking is limited.
In lieu of flowers, donations suggested to First Baptist Church of Waimanalo for their improvement fund. George helped build the church.
George worked at Pearl Harbor until his full retirement in 1975. He retired in 1967 from the Naval Reserve as a Commander. From 1972-75 he was Executive Assistant on the Federal Executive Board.
Services:
Internment at Punchbowl National Memorial Cemetery July 29 at 9:30 AM.
Visitation at First Baptist Church of Waimanalo July 30 at 10 AM; memorial service at 11 AM. Parking is limited.
In lieu of flowers, donations suggested to First Baptist Church of Waimanalo for their improvement fund. George helped build the church.
To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of George Fred Escher, please visit our Heartfelt Sympathies Store.
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Life Story for George Fred Escher
In 1960, a year after statehood, George F. Escher moved his family from Arlington, Virginia to Hawaii where he took the position of Training Director at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard; first to 101 Ohana Street and then to a barren pie-shaped lot on a cul-de-sac in Enchanted Lake, Kailua, Oahu. Joe Pau, a local developer, had dredged out Kawanui Swamp, creating a housing development he called Enchanted Lake, with a series of canals leading to Kailua Beach. The home was made of louvered windows in single wall construction, tongue and groove Redwood probably milled in Fort Bragg, CA where his mother grew up and was Mendocino beauty queen in 1913.There Dad created a virtual Garden of Eden of delights where you could go outside and pick mangos, papayas, avocados, coconuts, limes, lemons, tangerines and eventually lilikoi or passion fruit. We would fish for tilapia, mullet, ava, crabs and an occasional piranha. He constructed a raft made of oil barrels so we could jump off and swim or fish off it in the canal. He also got a swarm of bees and started harvesting the honey.
George built onto that 3 bedroom / 2 bath house a lanai and then a fourth bedroom all in his spare time. He never hired anything out; he simply read the instructions and did it himself from auto repair to plumbing. He truly embodied the expression “Let George Do It.” He became a jack of all trades and a master of most. In addition to that, he helped in the construction of three churches: First Baptist Church, Windward, where I was baptized and then later served as youth minister; Kailua Baptist Church, and then First Baptist Church Waimanalo. George was both deacon and building trustee.
He installed a dark room in the house for photography and eventually enclosed the lanai and built a separate room off the kitchen. Dad developed character in his boys by utilizing our help in mixing concrete and constructing a lava rock retention wall, two docks and a boat ramp.
The fish we caught were used as fertilizer and everything was composted to create a garden. When he retired he built the second home for Miriam Rediger whom he married after the passing of Victoria. Dad credits his long life to marrying two good cooks to whom he was married for 35 years and nearly 39 years, respectively. Dad also was our boys group leader at church, and hosted foreign students on Sundays from the University of Hawaii’s East West Center, and visited the Koolau Boy’s Home where he became famous for his Keoki’s butterscotch cookies. George reached out to all the widows in the neighborhood and church. George’s name is the Greek word for farmer. He sowed good seed everywhere he went and frequently revised his life message which he shared with all who would listen. He lives on in the offspring that he reared and those he adopted. He prayed along with his wife for us every day. He was deeply loved and will be greatly missed.
By his “numba tree son” Keleko (Greg)