CURRENT CELEBRATIONS

George W Mickle

His smile was ever present; to be around him was a joy. His secret to living to 95 was laughter (though a second secret may have been all the vegetables that came out of his garden). If you called his home, you’d receive a cheerful greeting: “Hello, Mickle Mansion”; of course, during more honest times you’d hear “Hello, Mickle Madhouse.” The Riverside boy met a pretty Burlington girl named Rita McGill: they figured they’d split the difference and live in Beverly. They settled into their home in 1957 and filled it with 8 children, his mother-in-law Bert, and lots of love. George was always in motion, sometimes working as many as three jobs to keep his family fed. He was a lab technician at Hoeganaes for 38 years, supplemented with work at Weiss Hardware, sold appliances at JM Fields, and in semi-retirement was a city housing inspector. Regardless of how many hours he worked, he still somehow summoned the energy to attend all his kid’s games and shuffle them around to their events. George was strong in his faith, attending Mass daily at St. Joseph’s, singing in the choir and helping out on most of the funerals. Christmas was his holiday: all year long he knew the exact number of shopping days left and the 25th found him jokingly wearing his “Bah Humbug” attire. If he found a little extra time, he’d most likely be involved somehow in his community: George was a volunteer with the fire police, a member of the Knights of Columbus and served a term on the Beverly City Council.
He was the husband of the late Rita; father of the late Mark (Ellen), Kathleen Baptista (the late Dana), Kelly (Carol), Kevin (Jodi), Bill (Tracy), Chris (Amy), Mary Lynn (Jeff) Heller, and Shawn (Tori); grandfather of Joshua, Emily, Faye, Lauren, Xavier, August, Stephanie, Kimberly, Amanda, Ryan, Walter, Naomi, Jessica, Jacob and Alyssa; great grandfather of Ellis, Joelle, Ella, Mia, Dana, Ryleigh, Haidynne, Colin, Tanner, Anthony, Amrita, Amaya, Giovanni, and Solana.
Please join us in celebrating 95 wonderful years Thursday August 8th, 6-8 p.m. and Friday 9-10 a.m. at Sweeney Funeral Home, Beverly. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Friday August 9th at 10:30 a.m. at Jesus, the Good Shepherd Parish, St. Joseph’s Church, Beverly. Interment follows at Odd Fellows Cemetery, Burlington.