George Harvey Walters

George Harvey Walters

February 9, 1936 – April 15, 2022

George Harvey Walters passed away suddenly on April 15, 2022, at the age of 86, at his home in Omaha, Nebraska. He was born February 9, 1936, in Omaha, NE. to Valfrid and Ingrid Walters, immigrants from the Angermanland province of Sweden, who had met and married in Omaha.

George grew up in Los Angeles, California, attending Emerson Junior High and University High School, where he played left tackle on the football team, played the clarinet in the school band, and sang as a bass-baritone in musical theater. Active in the Boy Scouts, he achieved the rank of Eagle Scout in 1952. At St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Pacific Palisades, George began many years of service in various roles (acolyte, crucifer, and usher). George studied at Santa Monica City College, then transferred to UCLA, where he majored in Political Science, and graduated in 1959 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. After participating in ROTC during college, he then entered the U.S. Marine Corps and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. He also became an expert ballroom dancer and taught at the Arthur Murray Dance Studio in Washington, D.C.

George and his wife, Mary Lou (herself an award-winning ballroom dancer), had three daughters. While raising a family, George worked as a mailman for the U.S. Postal Service for several years. He then attended USC’s School of Dentistry, was accepted into their honorary dental fraternity, Alpha Tau Epsilon in 1969, and graduated in 1970 with a DDS degree. He went on to practice general dentistry in Los Angeles for over two decades. After his divorce and retirement, George focused on his cooking and baking skills, attending the Epicurean School of Culinary Arts in California, and then attending the London branch of Le Cordon Bleu in the United Kingdom, where he earned a diploma in patisserie under the tutelage of renowned British pastry chef, Claire Clark.

In his later years, George moved back and forth between Omaha, NE. and Indio, CA. a couple of times. He became very active in volunteer work, as a “navigator” at the Palm Springs International Airport (for which he was honored as “Volunteer of the Year” in 2005 by the city’s Bureau of Tourism) and as a long-time docent at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium (often working at the penguin exhibit). George also entered the Nebraska Master Naturalist conservation program, and he served as a local board member for the Selective Service System in California and Nebraska. Always proud of his Swedish heritage, George had been a member of the Vasa Order of America, a Swedish-American fraternal organization.

Preceded in death by his father, Valfrid Walters; mother, Ingrid Elliott; step-mother, Dorothy Walters; step-father, John Elliott; and younger half-brother, Otto Elliott. George is survived by his daughters: Kelly Walters of Fairfax, VA., Kari Walters of Omaha, NE., and Krista Walters of Los Angeles, CA.; former wife, Mary Lou Walters of Los Angeles, CA.; niece, Mary Noel Elliott Stefani of Birmingham, MI, nephew, Darby Elliott of Chicago, IL,. and their families; numerous cousins in the U.S. and Sweden.

George is dearly missed by his family and friends. He has been laid to rest at Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California.