George A. Elsner

George A Elsner, 90, beloved husband, father, grandfather, and great grandfather died on January 2, 2018.  He was born in Springfield, MA, son of Arno O. and Margarete (Grabbert) Elsner.  George served in the US Navy on the aircraft carrier USS Franklin Roosevelt as a weatherman during the end of World War II.  He was a graduate of American International College, receiving both his Bachelor Degree and Masters’ Degree in Secondary Education.  He taught for most of his career in the Longmeadow School System, serving as Social Studies Department Chairman in the middle schools until 1989.  He leaves his loving wife of 41 years, Barbara W. Elsner; his daughter Cynthia; Kenneth and his wife Yon Ok; Thomas and his wife Rochelle; and step-daughter Elizabeth and her husband Carlo; three granddaughters and their partners and two great grand daughters and a great grandson.  In addition to his parents, his first wife Isabel Anne and a daughter Susan predeceased him.  George enjoyed traveling and spent a year in Europe on a Fulbright grant teaching in Dornbirn, Austria. He loved the Cape and spent as much time as possible fishing, clamming and just being in the atmosphere almost any day of the year.  He enjoyed photography also and used his cameras well in forty nine of the fifty states.  In retirement, he loved his yard and worked outside endlessly on the gardens and just walking in the neighborhood.  As a trained machinist, he worked in his shop frequently and could be found puttering in the basement thru the cold winter months.  Family and friends are invited to visiting hours at Forastiere Smith Funeral Home, 220 North Main St., East Longmeadow on Sunday, January 7th from 1 to 3 PM followed by a brief memorial service at 3 PM. The internment will be private at a later date.  For more information please visit www.forastiere.com

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