December 11, 1941 – February 8, 2018
George Talcott Ostrander was born on December 11, 1941 in Olympia, Washington. He was the first of four children born to Lamar Noyes and Jeanne Elizabeth (nee Beatty) Ostrander. He loved riding his bicycle from one poker match to the next, playing marbles, and being outside.
George lived in and attended public school in Kirkland, Washington. After high school, George attended Washington State University, where he met Leah Adelaide (nee Thornton), the love of his life. On their first date, Leah said she loved the sound of waves and wanted to live near the sea, so George knew she was a keeper.
George graduated in 1966, finished basic training in the reserves and mustered out of the Army. He moved to Port Townsend where he took the ferry to Seattle daily for work with Standard Oil. Tired of the office, George decided to elope with Leah and move to Australia for a “working holiday.”
After helping to build the railroad and teaching for two years “Down Under,” George and Leah landed a berth in the workers’ quarters of a freighter going through the Panama Canal. They showed up in Fort Lauderdale in June, 1969, with a $250 check from the Washington Teacher’s Credit Union. Leah waitressed at Latta’s, George drove a beer delivery truck, and they moved into a trailer park so they could stay.
George acquired the land so Leah could run Peter’s Road Child Care Center after their daughter, Michelle, was born in 1972. George became a real estate agent, a broker for Mary Lyons Realty, and finally owner of GLO Realty. He made many friends (and deals) through the Exchanger’s Club where he acquired rentals and became a successful landlord.
Big fans of home exchanging, George and Leah traveled throughout the United States and the world – Wales, England, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and South Africa were just a few destinations.
George loved pop music from the 1950s, Coke with lots of ice, Mountain Bars and maple squares, pinball, chess, card games, reading science fiction, watching westerns and mysteries, debating politics, following the stock market, the feel of sunshine on his back, the sound of waves at the ocean, and having a laugh with friends. He enjoyed meeting fellow “Larrys” at the New Voice Club after his laryngectomy in 2002. He reveled in his circle of friends at the The Pier / Diner by the Sea, his breakfast spot for over 30 years.
George fought esophageal cancer and prostate cancer but succumbed to colon cancer after a 10-month battle. He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Leah, his daughter, Michelle, his son-in-law, Whitney, his three grandchildren, Sophia, Quinn, and Lela of Sebastopol, CA, his brother Rick (Peggy) of Kirkland, WA, his sister Linda Cossalman (Steve) of Eatonville, WA, and his brother-in-law, Stephen Lutz of Kirkland, WA. George was predeceased by his sister, Ellen Ostrander Lutz.
Private family services will be held in Washington later in the year. In lieu of flowers or donations, please have some fudge, walk in the sunshine, listen to the ocean, mow a lawn, travel, or just do something nice for someone. Be quietly generous and enjoy the journey. It’s what George would have wanted.
