Charles George | 98

Charles George is nearing 100 years old and grateful every day for the family he has, the friends who call to check on him, and, before the pandemic, the time he spent at his local gym. He grew up in North Carolina, worked in many jobs but found some training as a chemist and built on this, ultimately taking a job with the Navy. That brought him to a job in San Francisco in the Navy Shipyards and, with his family, here to stay. He held other jobs in San Francisco, including in the U.S. Mint. Throughout his career he weathered frequent discrimination as an African-American, but he continued to do the best work he could. After retiring from that career, he took a job at University of San Francisco as a warehouse manager and then in a lab doing electro-chemical research. He retired for good at 95 years old. He is truly a glass half full kind of person and advises people to treat others well, “Be nice to people as you go up, because when you come back down, you're gonna come by the same people.”

Jan Robbins who referred him also interviewed him for a profile in SF Senior Beat, which you can find here.

Interview dates: 06/14/20 and 12/15/21

Interviewed by: Anna Chodos

Referred by: Jan Robbins