Gramps would have been proud. As Dr. Joshua Bald began the eulogy on Monday morning during a Mass of Christian Burial at St. Anthony’s Church in Fredonia for Charles St. George, he recalled some advice from that respected man when it came to addressing a crowd and giving speeches.
“Go from the heart, don’t read it and keep it short,” he said in his opening remarks about the Fredonia icon.
To his credit, Bald spoke for about eight minutes about his grandfather. That was no easy task in summing up the 94-year life of St. George that was filled with dedication to his community, family, church and country.
A World War II veteran, St. George was proud of his love for the United States of America and was grateful to serve on the U.S.S. Alaska. It was that connection he kept for almost 65 years through reunions and communications, specifically through his newsletter entitled the Northstar. When he ran out of funds to continue the correspondence that was filled with memories, photos and obituaries of heroes who participated during the war, he was still mailing out about 250 copies.