George Henry Oelschig

SAVANNAH, GEORGIA - George Henry Oelschig, 85, of Savannah, Georgia, husband of Shirley Parish Oelschig, died Wednesday morning, August 22, 2012, at his home surrounded by his loving family and under the care of Hospice Savannah.
He was born in Savannah, Georgia, on December 29, 1926, to Albert Conrad Oelschig and Charlotte Muench Oelschig. George was graduated from Savannah High School where he was alternate captain of the Savannah High Blue Jackets football team, who were the 1944 State Champions. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and served on Guam and in North China with the 29th Marine Regiment, 6th Marine Division during World War II, and 10 years in the Marine Reserves, postwar.
After returning home, he briefly attended the University of Georgia, Hunter Field Campus, then graduated from Mississippi State University with majors in agriculture, horticulture and botany in 1950. George was elected to Alpha Zeta national honor fraternity. He returned to Savannah to work with his father and brother at Oelschigs Nursery, founded in 1882.
With his brother Albert, he received numerous awards from local schools, state, national organizations, and the Lutheran Church for employing the physically and mentally impaired. This proved to be challenging, but very heart warming.
George was an organizer of the German Heritage Society in Savannah in 1965, subsequently serving as president for two years, banquet chairman, and archivist for over 45 years.
As founder and organizer of the Georgia Commercial Flower Growers in 1973, he served as president and was elected Grower of the Year in 1975.
George was a member of the Savannah Jaycees, Kiwanis Club of Savannah, Savannah Golf Club, Savannah Yacht Club, The Chatham Club and the Oglethorpe and Cotillion Clubs, having served on the boards of the Savannah Golf Club and the Cotillion Club. He was also a 50 year member of Solomon's Lodge No. 1 F. & A.M. of Savannah.
He served on the board of Atlantic Bank and Trust, which later became BankSouth, where he was a member of the Executive Board for several years. He served on the Board of Trustees of Savannah Country Day School, becoming Chairman of the Board for 1985 and 1986.
George was a communicant of St. John's Episcopal Church and a former member of the Lutheran Church of the Ascension and First Christian Church.
In later years, he honored the Confederate dead from Gettysburg by placing ferns at the Confederate Monument in Laurel Grove Cemetery. Each week, he gave these plants his care for them to flourish and survive.
In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by his brother, Albert C. Oelschig, Jr.
In 1949 he married his high school sweetheart, Shirley Parish. They are parents of three children and six grandchildren. Surviving are his wife of 63 years; children, George H. Oelschig, Jr., Joan Oelschig Dyer and her husband, Bill, and John Kurt Christian Oelschig and his wife, Karen, and six grandchildren, Page Oelschig Ryan and her husband, Conner, Kate Oelschig, Geoffrey Dyer, Logan Dyer, Christian Oelschig and Stella Oelschig.
The family will receive friends from 5 until 7 o'clock Sunday at Gamble Funeral Service - 410 Stephenson Avenue.
The funeral service will be held at 11 o'clock Monday morning in St. John's Episcopal Church conducted by The Reverend Gavin G. Dunbar and The Reverend Craig E. O'Brien.
Honorary pallbearers will be members of the German Heritage Society.
A reception in celebration of his life will be held in The Green-Meldrim House immediately following the service. After the reception the interment, with military honors, will be in the family plot at Bonaventure Cemetery.
Remembrances: St. John's Episcopal Church - One West Macon Street, Savannah, Georgia 31401 or Hospice Savannah - Post Office Box #13190, Savannah, Georgia 31416-0190.
Please share your thoughts about Mr. Oelschig and his life here on our website or they may be mailed to George's family in care of Gamble Funeral Service - 410 Stephenson Avenue, Savannah, Georgia 31405.
Semper Fidelis.
"All is well."