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<h1 color="#00141E"
class="Box-sc-ucqo0b-0 HeadingBase___StyledBox-sc-1jlt23t-0 cTwbCP cNDfOi">George
McCanless Obituary</h1>
George Folsom McCanless, Jr. died peacefully in his Monte Sano home
at the age of 91 on Sunday, December 15, 2024, in Huntsville,
Alabama. George was born on Friday, December 13, 1933, in
Morristown, Tennessee, to George Folsom McCanless, Sr. and Sarah
Hardcastle McCanless. In his long life he had ten other birthdays
which fell on Friday, December the 13th, including the year he
turned 13 in 1946, for which he was recognized in his local
newspaper. In 2024, his often-told story during his long life also
came true but with a different ending! <br>
George graduated in 1951 from the McCallie School in Chattanooga,
Tennessee and in 1955 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
in Cambridge, Massachusetts with a Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical
Engineering. While working as an engineer for General Motors in
Flint, Michigan, George was drafted in 1958 into the U.S. Army and
assigned to the Army Ballistic Missile Agency at Huntsville's
Redstone Arsenal. Directed by Dr. Wernher von Braun to develop the
U.S. Space Program it later became the NASA Marshall Space Flight
Center. As a Private in the U.S. Army, he carried out the
aerodynamic design of the supersonic wind tunnel, which still
operates on Redstone Arsenal today. In later years, he published his
research in The Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, and the
peer-reviewed Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. <br>
In 1963, George married Christel Ludewig of Huntsville, Alabama. In
their leisure time, George and Christel enjoyed traveling (Alaska,
Russia, Europe and the USA), and cruising the waters of the Panama
Canal as well as the Mediterranean, Baltic, and Aegean seas. Their
favorite water activity was exploring the blue waters of the Gulf of
Mexico aboard their sailboat Easy Street, and successfully
completing in 1997 a 599-mile boat trip from Mobile, AL to
Huntsville, AL on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway and the Tennessee
River. <br>
In retirement, George continued to be very active in the Huntsville
and Monte Sano communities. He served as president of the Monte Sano
Civic Association. Over the years he faithfully attended the Monte
Sano United Methodist Church and served on various committees. He
was a charter member and later president of the Monte Sano Club, a
neighborhood swimming pool built by members of the community in
1962. During the summer of 2024, he still enjoyed swimming in the
pool. He was recently recognized by the American Radio Relay League
for 25 years of continuous membership in the national organization
for amateur radio enthusiasts. His call sign W4SQ will be retired in
a Silent Key ceremony thanks to the dedication of his fellow ham
radio friend W4RK (Bill Gerth). <br>
George is survived by his wife of 61 years, Christel Ludewig
McCanless, daughter Katherine McCanless Ruffin of Wellesley Hills,
Massachusetts, cousin Nancy Jane Hale Logan of Raleigh, North
Carolina and members of the Hale and the Hardcastle families. He was
preceded in death by his parents, his sister Sarah McCanless Howell,
and his Huntsville in-laws, Emma Jaglitz Ludewig and Hermann R. R.
Ludewig. <br>
The family will always be grateful for the support, love, and care
so generously provided by extended family, friends, neighbors and
professional caregivers/providers during George's final illness. <br>
Celebrating the Life of George F. McCanless, Jr. (1933-2024) is
scheduled for Saturday, February 1, 2025, 1 pm (CST) at the Monte
Sano United Methodist Church, 601 Monte Sano Blvd, Huntsville, AL.
Family, neighbors, and friends are invited to attend. In lieu of
flowers, the family suggests any remembrance tributes be made to the
dedicated volunteer organizations of the Monte Sano community: Monte
Sano United Methodist Church, 601 Monte Sano Blvd SE, Huntsville,
AL, 35801; Burritt on the Mountain Museum, 3101 Burritt Dr SE,
Huntsville, AL, 35801; or The Monte Sano Village, P.O. Box 10063,
Huntsville, AL, 35801, a non-profit volunteer organization
supporting mountain residents so they may remain in their homes as
long as possible. <br>
<p>Condolences can be sent to <a color="#247FC3"
href="http://www.valhallafunerals.com" rel="sponsored"
class="Box-sc-ucqo0b-0 Link-sc-1u14kdb-0 HtmlContent___StyledLink-sc-ngx07-0 gduWLe jLFkis hRYGv">www.valhallafunerals.com</a></p>
<p><span
class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u"
dir="auto"><span
class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u">George
worked in Bill Aycock's Advanced Concepts Integration
Department in 7611 in the early 1960s.</span></span></p>
<p></p>
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