Lovingly recounted by his wife, Carol Ann Henderson Genung
NORWICH – George R. Genung, Jr., affectionately called “Dick” by his family and closest friends, died from a heart attack on Friday, Jan. 9, 2009 at the age of 61, doing one of the things he loved most in life – cross country skiing.
George is recognized by many as a great hunter, an amazing and avid gardener, an accomplished and widely known canoe racer, a talented stained glass artist, a gifted athlete, and a true friend.
The son of Mary Genung and the late George Richard Genung, George was born on Jan. 21, 1947 in Norwich. His elementary and high school years were in Oxford, where he graduated in 1966 from Oxford Academy. As a gifted athlete, George was a running back for his high school football team and a heavyweight wrestler.
He then entered the Navy during the Viet Nam War and was stationed on a Destroyer out of Newport, Rhode Island. He was a Navy football player, a flagman and a diver. Upon his departure from the service in 1970, he worked for a year as an assembly line painter for the Raymond Corporation. In 1971, George was employed by what is now known as Frontier Communications, where he was at one time a lineman and also the union president. He worked for most of his 36-year career with the telephone company as an installer until his retirement in July of 2007.
Ever since George was a boy, he hunted with his father, who he loved and adored. Together they’d walk their favorite woods, mountains and fields of the Oxford and Norwich areas, hunting for deer and turkey and observing life from its sweetest places of natural beauty. While George never got over the passing of his father in 1993, he continued with his friends to enjoy many fantastic years of hunting on his own property, and on the adjacent property of Bradd and Rainy Vickers. As good friends, Bradd and Rainy generously extended an open invitation for George to enjoy the bounty of their land. It was there where George did so many of the things he loved most, like chopping wood and cross country skiing with his wife, Carol Ann. Above all though, George enjoyed hunting there and the friendships he kept dear to his heart with his fellow hunters.
George’s canoe race career spanned a great and exciting thirty years until the end of his life where he and his wife Carol Ann remain undefeated as partners in their class for the entire three years that they raced together. During George’s three decades as a canoe racer, he won the Adirondack Canoe Race Classic 90 Miler several times with such wonderful partners as Don LaFever of Norwich, and Tom Smallin of Oneonta. Together George and Don won several NYMCRA Point Championships and were actually undefeated there for two consecutive seasons. George also raced and won The General Clinton Canoe Regatta 70 Miler several times and has hundreds of first place plaques and trophies to show for his achievements of excellence in this sport throughout the years. He remarked to his wife only recently that one of his absolute favorite things in life were the times they spent together canoeing on Otsego Lake in Cooperstown.
As athletic as George was, interestingly, he was also a true artist. His gift as a designer and craftsman of stunning stained glass windows and sun catchers never failed to surprise and delight everyone. He spent nearly two decades honing this craft and loving every second of it. He deeply loved his art and the entire creative process. His appreciation and passion for life in general revealed itself in everything he did, including the brilliant and colorful artwork that he created in this glass medium. In 2008, George and his wife Carol Ann proudly displayed their creative collaborations from the Henderson Genung Fine Art Stained Glass Collection at the Window on the Arts Outdoor Art Festival in Windsor in September and at the Jericho Arts Council in Bainbridge just this past October. Together, they took extreme pleasure from their creative endeavors.
In final, George had a passion for gardening and was gifted with most probably the world’s greenest thumb! He loved to work and cultivate his land, and was particularly excited about tending to every little detail about it, from seedling to full fruit. His favorites to grow and eat were butternut squash. He also immensely enjoyed tending to his green beans and sweet baby peas. Together, he and his wife Carol Ann loved herb gardening and cooking with the parsley, dill and sweet basil they grew from seedlings in their potted winter gardens. Among the things he harvested from his gardens in Norwich and New Berlin were tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, carrots, beets, red and green cabbage and Brussels sprouts. His gardens, quite like his life, will forever be remembered as robust and bountiful.
George is survived by his wife, Carol Ann of Norwich; his mother, Mary of Oxford; his brother, Douglas of Norwich; his children: Gregory Genung (Jennifer) of Pensacola, Fla., Tobin Genung of Washington, D.C., Amber Genung of Alexandria, Va., Carlee Genung of Phoenix, Ariz., Kristy Genung of Phoenix, Ariz.; stepdaughter Jessica Murray of Kentucky; granddaughters Demi and Deanna of Pensacola, Fla.; nephews Rhett Genung of Sherburne, Andrew Genung of Rochester, Joseph Genung of New Paltz; and several aunts, uncles and cousins.
Above all, George was as a kind and loving companion, a competent hard worker, a devoted father, a fine brother, a good son and a generous man. He will forever be remembered by his wife Carol Ann as “MW,” which is her short term for Mr. Wonderful.
Funeral services for George will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the R.J. Fahy Funeral Home. Reverend James Horton of the First Baptist Church in Norwich, will officiate. Interment will be at a later date in the Mt. Hope Cemetery in Norwich in the spring.
Friends may call at the R. J. Fahy Funeral home in Norwich on Tuesday from 7 to 9 p.m.
Rather than sending flowers, please consider making a donation to The George R. Genung Jr. Youth Hunter’s Foundation and send it to: Trust Department, NBT Bank, Atn: Tim Handy, 52 South Broad Street, Norwich, NY 13815.