Roll Call Tribute

Published in The Hartford (CT) Courant on Aug. 23, 2015

George Townsend Jr.


George Prior Townsend Jr, 95, of West Hartford, died at home on August 17, 2015. Born in San Diego, California, he was graduated from Texas A & M College with a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering and a commission of First Lieutenant in the Army of the United States. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he served with the 31st Division of the Sixth Army in the Pacific Theater, first in Fremantle, Townsville and Iron Range, Australia. Fighting toward Japan, the division next engaged in active combat during monsoon seasons in the disease-ridden jungles of New Guinea in Milne Bay, Port Moresby, Finschhaven, and Hollandia where his technical activity included oversight of early radar installations. Finally, preparing for the invasion of Japan itself, the 31st Division moved to Morotai and the Philippines. The war then ended, and George Townsend was discharged from the army as a major after almost four years of fighting, often out of touch with family and home. During his professional career, he worked for Westinghouse, Sundstrand, and finally at The Hamilton Standard Division of United Technologies, where, among other projects, he helped develop UTC's early Computer Aided Design Program. He was especially proud of the resulting auxiliary power unit (APU) for UTC engines. His community activities included: the presidency of The Townsend Society of America, membership on the West Hartford Planning and Zoning Commission, and many years of active participation in the Intersociety Energy Conversion Engineering Conference (IECEC) and the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). He became Chairman of the Propulsion Division of the Aerospace Council of the SAE, and, in 1984, was granted the coveted Arch T. Colwell Cooperative Engineering Medal. For most of his life, he was known for his skill as a poker player and a follower of the stock market. However, George may best be remembered for his deep, baritone singing voice, his love of reading biographies and histories, and his joy while dancing at family weddings. Predeceased by his parents, George and Lucy Barrett Townsend, his only brother Col. Robert T. Townsend, and his first two wives, Ruth Mason Townsend and Nancy Hirst Townsend, George Prior Townsend is survived by his third wife Lucy Elmer Townsend and his five children, their spouses, partners, children and grandchildren: (Roger, Jette, and Bjorn Townsend; Margot, and Ed Johns, Todd, Amanda and Ada MacDermid, Torey, Willis, Robbie, and Sasha Wodnik; Gary, Holly, and Gary Townsend Jr, Nancy Townsend and Marvin Brenes, Emily and Greg Flowers; Lisa, Flint and Hudson Bridge, Jessica Davis, Carrie and Richard Student; Mark Townsend and Maureen Hennigan, Amanda, Lea, and Rose Terwilliger, Angela Chaffee, John, James, and Rachael Townsend and Lillie Hennigan). In addition, George Townsend is survived by seven step-children and their families, a total immediate family of 66 members. At his request, there will be no funeral or memorial service for George Townsend. Instead, friends and family are invited to visit together in celebration of his life at a gathering at The Pond House, Elizabeth Park, 1555 Asylum Avenue, West Hartford, CT on Friday, September 11, 2015 between the hours of 1:00 and 4:00 p.m. Burial will be at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Hartford at the convenience of the family. Memorial donations may be made to The Townsend Society of America, 21 West Main Street, Oyster Bay, New York ll77l.