George Gale, Mr. Claremont, passed away on July 3rd at the age of 92. The Claremont Courier yesterday carried a long obituary on Gale, who first came to Claremont in 1929. Gale was deeply involved in the community, working for the city's Parkways and Trees Department in the 1960's.
Gale volunteered for a number of local organizations and also was very politically active. He worked with Les Boring to argue against the city's Landscaping and Lighting District (LLD) assessment in 1989-90, and he helped Boring collect over 7,000 signatures on a petition against the LLD.
Gale combined his volunteer spirit and his desire for public participation in helping found Active Claremont, a local group that tries to encourage people to become involved in the community.
The Daily Bulletin also noted Gale's passing with an article yesterday by Will Bigham. The Bigham article was especially interesting because it showed Gale as someone who not only genuinely cared about his town, but who also was respected by a wide range of people.
Claremont City Councilmember Ellen Taylor was quoted:
"When we got here 30 years ago, George Gale was Mr. Claremont," said Councilwoman Ellen Taylor. "And he had a wealth of history in his head, and wanted to share it."
Kind words from Taylor, who has rarely had nice things to say about Active Claremont, the group George Gale helped start.
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We also received an email commenting on Gale's passing:
I was saddened to hear of George Gale's passing. I consider him to have been a good friend. He was a good friend to many, many people. One of his friends said he would give you the shirt off his back and that's no joke.
A number of years back, when Mark McGwire was making news in the baseball record book, George encountered Mark's mother walking on the Thompson Creek Trail near his home. He would regularly see Ginger McGwire and her friends. On this particular morning, George was carrying a box with two tee-shirts emblazoned with "McGwires Bar and Grill". George had found these treasures while on a trrip north, and he gave them to Ginger, saying that he thought Mark would like to have them. She accepted the gift with pleasure.
A couple of weeks later, George met Ginger again, and she was carrying the box. "Here are your shirts, Mark signed them for you", she said.
George was astonished, and almost without words. He was so proud of those shirts! His kindness and generosity were rewarded. That's the kind of man that he was.
Dave Wishart
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