George was born in 1903 in Bridges Chapel, Titus, Texas, to Edward Thomas Wilder and Arkansas Jane Hunt. He was the youngest child out of 9, and the 5th son. George never knew his father well, as Edward Thomas Wilder died when George was just a year old.
In 1910[1], George, his widowed mother, and 5 of his siblings lived in Paris Ward 3, Lamar, Texas. Also at this residence was George's sister-in-law, Lillie Wilder, who was married to his older brother, Thomas.
George attended school through the ninth grade, but dropped out soon after. He began working in construction, and eventually became a general contractor. He built churches, grain elevators, and houses all across the United States.
In 1925, when George was 22 years old, he married Claribel Taylor in Liberty, Missouri. George then took a job in New York, and they had their first child, Elaine, who was still-born.
The family later moved to Kansas, and in 1926, another child was born: Virginia Lou Wilder. She was an only child until 1930, when son George Leon Wilder was born.
In 1930, George and wife Claribel were living in Poughkeepsie, Dutchess, New York. George was 26 by this time, and Claribel, 24. [2] With them lived their children, Virginia and George Leon.
George soon accepted a job back in Holton, Kansas, and in 1933, their last child was born: Dorothy Jane. She quickly became a "Daddy's girl", whom George loved to spoil.
In 1940, the family moved to Tract 36, Houston, Justice Precinct 1, Harris, Texas, where they stayed for several years. [3]
Over the following years, George and Claribel moved all over the country, wherever work was to be found. They lived in Fort Worth, Texas; Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Anaheim, California, before finally retiring to Santa Fe, New Mexico.
On the morning of January 18, 1984, George went to his favorite fishing hole, which was Monastery Lake. It is just up the mountain past Pecos, New Mexico. It was a cold day, and the lake was frozen over. George cut a hole in the ice so he could fish. Somehow, he ended up falling through the ice, and was trapped in the frigid waters, where he drowned. Although there were other fishermen close by, they were unable to save him.
Memorial services were held on Thursday, January 24, 1985 at the First Presbyterian Church in Santa Fe, New Mexico. George was cremated, and his ashes were spread in the waters of Monastery Lake. [4]
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