George was born on the 25th August 1932 in Lewisham, South London, England. Educated at Salesians College, London from 1943 to 1951 and at the English College, Valladolid, Spain from 1951 to 1957, he was ordained for the Archdiocese of Southwark on 9th June 1957.
George did Parish ministry in Brighton and Kingston-on-Thames between 1957 and 1962. During this time he volunteered with the Columbans and travelled to Peru in November 1962 where he remained until 1968.
George decided to join the Society of St. Columban and after a probation year in Dalgan in 1968, returned to Peru in October 1968. He had various parish appointments in Lima between 1968 and 1989 and during this time, was Pastoral Vicar for 3 years for the Northern Zone of Lima Archdiocese.
George was appointed to Britain in April 1989 for mission promotion and was part of the mission promotion team until December 1997 which was extended to June 2001. He then took up university chaplaincy at South London University for 2 years until September 2003. He continued his chaplaincy work part time, combined with supplies in a number of parishes in the Archdiocese where he had begun his priestly ministry in 1962.
In January 2004, a need arose in the parish of St. Patrick, Chislehurst and George was appointed ‘priest in charge’ there until his retirement in 2014 when he took up residence in the retirement wing at St. Columbans in Solihull.
George was a popular member of the Solihull community with a dry wit and plenty of jokes. He was always willing to do weekend supply in the Archdiocese of Birmingham. He assisted in opening the daily post in the Solihull office until shortly before his death.
George’s considerable spiritual presence will be sadly missed. May he rest in peace.
We have been contacted by many people who knew George, so we have created a Tribute site in George’s memory and we invite you to share your memories and stories on this site. You also have the opportunity to make a donation to a memorial fund, which will support the ministry of Fr. Ed O’Connell in Peru, which George supported generously for many years.
