SUN CITY, Ariz. — It is with great sadness we announce that Sunday morning, May 10th, George Tregellas passed away at Boswell Hospital in Sun City, Ariz., just 536 days short of his 100th birthday. George had been diagnosed with an aggressive leukemia only a few weeks earlier and was taken far too quickly.
He is survived by his wife, Frances of Sun City; daughter Deborah Baker (Bob) of Scappoose Ore.; and son Michael (Brenda) of Lambertville, N.J./Peoria, Ariz.; along with four grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
George was born in Pratt, Kan. in 1921 into the family of George and Nellie Tregellas. “George Bill” was the youngest child of six and the only boy. He learned the value of hard work as a young man and attended Pratt Community College where he met the love of his life, Cleo Marie Hayes whom he married in 1942. In 1943 the couple moved to Great Bend, Kan. where they made their home for the next 55 years. He founded an oil-field construction business which he operated until his retirement in 1995 as well has founded several other businesses in irrigation and tractor manufacturing. He was a “tinkerer” and inventor and given duct tape and wire, felt he could fix just about anything. George and Cleo were regularly active in Masonic Lodge and Eastern Star at the local, state, and national level before her death in 1997. Since graduating from Pratt Community College in 1941, George was an ardent supporter of the community college system and served on the board of directors of the Barton County Community College for 19 years, eight years of which he served as Chairman. He was also elected as a delegate of the Kansas Association of Community Colleges and appointed to the Governors Advisory Council in 1986 and 1989. George was awarded the 1998 Distinguished Service Award by Barton County Community College.
George married Frances Skolaut in December 1998 and the couple relocated permanently to Arizona in 2000, settling in the Sun City area. Until recently the George and Frances were active travelers and cruisers, enjoying new sites and visiting family and friends across the country and Europe.
George was known as a humble man with a “no filters” communication style and a big heart who throughout his life would extend a helping hand to anyone in need. From establishment of student scholarships, helping young operators start their own businesses (though they would be new competition), driving/flying neighbors to Kansas City or Wichita for medical care, or helping out at the Methodist Church or Masonic Lodge, George was there to help in any way possible. His subtle dry wit, gentle guidance, wisdom, kindness and the slow Kansas drawl will be greatly missed but never forgotten.
George’s cremains will be laid to rest in the Cairo, Kan. cemetery later this summer. Plans for the burial and for a celebration of life in Great Bend are underway. In lieu of flowers, a donation to the “Tregellas Chairman Endowment” c/o Barton County Community College, Foundation Office, 245 NE 30 Road, Great Bend, KS 67530 would memorialize one of George’s lifelong passions.
Great Bend (Kan.) Tribune, May 17, 2020
