WILMINGTON — George Alfred Beck, 87, died Saturday, Nov. 3 2018.
He was born Oct. 23, 1931, in Warren, Ohio, son of Frederick William Beck and Oro Laird Beck.
Mr. Beck attended his mother’s alma mater, Hiram College in Hiram, Ohio, from 1949 to 1951.He subsequently earned a B.S. Degree in Electrical Engineering from Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1954, graduating with honors. He served in the U.S. Army at White Sands Proving Ground in New Mexico in 1955 and 1956. He studied electrical engineering in graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from 1956 to 1957.
Mr. Beck worked for RCA in Princeton and East Windsor, New Jersey, from 1956 until 1986, where he began his career as a system engineer and design engineer and eventually participated in developing and sustaining the company’s commercial unmanned spacecraft programs.
He served as a division fellow and system design manager for spacecraft projects for General Electric Company from 1986 until 1991. He free-lanced as a consultant for various aerospace engineering projects until his retirement. Mr. Beck holds one U.S. patent, and he wrote or co-authored eight engineering publications. He has been honored by the Space Technology Hall of Fame.
Mr. Beck and his beloved wife of 49 years, the late Anita Ruth Glaeser Beck, moved to Wilmington in 2001. They were members of Grace United Methodist Church. Mr. Beck spent much of his retirement keeping the financial records for Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard.
He is survived by his sons, Frederick (wife, Emmie, and son, William) of Bennettsville, South Carolina, and Kenneth of Woodland, California; and “sweetheart,” Peggy Wardell, of Wilmington.
A memorial service will be held at 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 6, at Grace United Methodist Church.
Memorials may be made to Grace United Methodist Church.
Share online condolences with the family at Andrews Mortuary & Crematory.
