George Wise, Jr.

God blessed our earthly community with George Wise Jr. on July 9, 1933, in Arkansas City, Arkansas to George and Velvet Wise. He was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers, Victor and Roosevelt, one sister and brother-in-law, Mable (Cliff) and one niece, Vicki Lee.

In his early years, George and his family moved to Omaha, Nebraska. George attended the Omaha Public Schools, graduating from Omaha Technical High School in 1951. George attended Omaha University and earned an Associates Degree in Mechanical Engineering. After college, George joined the United States Air Force in 1953 and served our country for eight years; four years active duty and four years in the Reserves. George was honorably discharged as an Airman First Class.

After returning from the Air Force, George made his home in Denver, Colorado where he worked for Lockheed Martin and IBM Corporation. George was blessed with a melodic tenor voice. He was the featured soloist who sang “Amen,” with the New Hope Baptist Choir on their 1969 Christmas album. He played all reed instruments and performed with several bands including having the honor of playing a set with James Brown.

On October 29, 1969, George met Mary Jones of Snow Hill, AL. Eight months and twelve days later, on July 11, 1970, they were married. Five days later they moved to Richfield, MN where George began his new career with Control Data Corporation. Over their fifty-one years together, they celebrated many blessings. In 1971, they welcomed a beautiful daughter, Joy Sheree. Joy was the light of his life and the apple of his eye. As a family they traveled to forty-nine of the fifty states. Joy did not make the Alaska trip, but the two of them still had fun. They also loved traveling to the Caribbean Islands and Mexico. George enjoyed volunteering and attending all of Joy’s activities, especially the fundraisers. He would leave no stone unturned to make sure Joy raised the most money to win the top prize. Joy later married Lovell Davis and made George the happiest Papa ever with the addition of Jayden Mychael Wise Davis.

He took immense pride in his career from building old mainframe computers to becoming a Senior Buyer for several companies including, IBM, Control Data, and Toro to name a few. George end his professional career with Century Manufacturing where he retired in 2000. George was a man of faith, with a kind and generous heart. He loved people, and he never met a stranger. He believed his faith was one of his greatest blessings. He demonstrated his Christian principles through daily actions of kind deeds to serve others. He worked for many years with the Junior Achievement program, helping young people to develop their creative skills in program planning and designing. He too enjoyed fabricating and building gadgets and tools for home use.

One of George’s favorite past times was playing golf. The hole in one in 1992 was the highlight of his golf career. One is a rare feat, but he had a second one during his time as a member of Renaissance Golf Club. He also LOVED watching football and manicuring his lawn. It was hard for him when he could no longer take care of his own lawn. He must have hired and fired dozens of lawn services. In George’s eyes, they just could not get it “George’s Way.”

George entered eternal life on June 27, 2022. He will truly be missed by his family: wife of 51 years, Mary; daughter, Joy Wise (Lovell) Davis; Grandson, Jayden Davis; “like a son” Jeremy (Rachelle) Harris; sister-in-law, Irma Wise; nieces, Gloria Veleta Wise and Rosalind (Jamal) Ali; nephews, Victor “Rocky” Wise and Kelvin Wise; brothers-in-law, Warner (Jemmie) Jones, Moless (Mary) Jones, Posey (Pat) Jones, David Jones and Henry Jones; a host of nieces and nephews, extended family, friends, neighbors and
acquaintances.