Peninsula Amateur Radio Club
NEWPORT NEWS - George Edward Ficklen, 71, of Newport News went to heaven
on Sept. 13, 2009. George, a Warwick County
native, was born on Jan. 14, 1938. George spent some of his early years living
on the Maney Farm with his grandfather, Stephen R. Maney, known to many in
Warwick County as 'Farmer Maney.' He attended Fork Union Military Academy and
the Norfolk William & Mary - VPI Technical Institute. He graduated from
Warwick High School and the NACA/NASA-Langley Apprentice School.
George worked at NACA/NASA-Langley
from 1957 to 1995, spending the majority of his career in electronics
technology supporting aircraft simulator research. George's many interests
included listening to and recording fine music, especially organ music, and
target shooting at the Lafayette Gun Club. In the 1950's, George was active
with Boy Scout Troop 41 and the Civil Defense Ground Observer Corps. As a
member of the Civil Air patrol, he served in communications and was involved in
several CAP search and rescue operations. As a U.S. Naval Reserve member, he
saw duty at Guantanamo Naval Base on the destroyer escort, the Earl B. Hall.
He was preceded in death by his
parents, Carter Braxton Ficklen and Zella Ann Maney Ficklen Phillips; and his
brother, Joseph Charles Phillips Jr.
George is survived by his wife, Patricia Cooper Ficklen; two sons,
William George Edward Ficklen (Amy) of St. Louis, Mo., and Andrew Carlton Todd
Ficklen (Carol) of Suffolk; a brother, Carter Braxton Ficklen Jr. (Carol) of
Yorktown; and two sisters, Susan Phillips Rawlins (David) of Port Colborne,
Ontario, and Lauretta Phillips of White Rock, British Columbia; also, numerous
nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday Sept. 17, 2009, at St.
Andrew's Episcopal Church in Newport News with a reception following the
service in the parish hall.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to a charity of your choice.
Peninsula Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. View and post
condolences on our online guestbook at dailypress.com/guestbooks.
Published in
Daily Press
George was a
former member of US Army MARS with the MARS callsign AAR3FQ.