Obituary of George Henry Volkman

George Henry Volkman January 8, 1921 - April 15, 2013 George H. Volkman, age 92, of Port Charlotte, Florida, was called to his eternal home on April 15 while surrounded by his loving family. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland and grew up on Cleveland Street. In 1943, at the age of 22 he married his sweetheart Grace Hesterberg, having met as teenagers at their church youth group. The following year he was drafted into the Navy during WWII, where he achieved the rank of Machinist Mate First Class and served in the Philippines and Australia. After his military service he returned stateside and was employed by Westinghouse. While there, he was in charge of many projects including the development of the first color camera used during the NASA moon exploration missions and development of AWACS for the USAF. Also during this time he earned a Bachelor's Degree from Johns Hopkins University. He retired in 1982 and moved to Port Charlotte, Florida where he enjoyed an active lifestyle including bowling, golf, card club and traveling. The church was the foundation on which George built his life and soon after arriving in Port Charlotte, he and Grace began making arrangements for the establishment of a new church. His dream became a reality when construction was complete and the Lutheran Church of the Cross was dedicated. He was very proud to be a charter member of the church. He is survived by his wife of 69 years, Grace and their three daughters, Kareen Vengren (Frank) of Lake Wales, FL; Gale Songer (Lanny) of Brandon, FL; and Kim Thomason (Tim) of Dade City, FL. George was blessed with seven grandchildren, Paula Tomak Hamilton (who preceded him in death); Karl Tomak (Karen) of Reisterstown, MD; Cheryl Songer Crawford (Phil) of Brandon, FL; Sean Songer (Helen) of Seffner, FL; Kristin Thomason of Seffner, FL; Lucas Thomason of Valrico, FL; and Tai Thomason of Jacksonville, FL. He also had five great-grandchildren, Leah, Stephen, Blaine, Emily, and Tristan. A memorial will be held on Saturday, May 11, at 11:00 a.m. at the Lutheran Church of the Cross, 2300 Luther Rd, Punta Gorda, FL 33983. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations in George's honor be sent to the Lutheran Church of the Cross.