George Maxim Lindsay, 88, died in his San Francisco home on September 3rd. He was a highly decorated retired Army officer with a keen interest in contemporary politics and foreign affairs. His views appeared often in S. F. Chronicle’s Letters to the Editors and in “Two Cents”.
He served in combat in the Pacific theater in WWII, and in Army Intelligence in the Korean conflict, receiving the Purple Heart, two Bronze Stars, and numerous other combat medals. He retired from the Army, after 26 years of service, with the rank of Lt. Colonel.
His last assignment in the Army was as Professor of Military Science at the University of Scranton. In addition to traditional courses like strategy and tactics, he strove to develop leaders and to teach future officers how to survive in the culture and hierarchy of the army. Then, as many of his graduating students were sent to Vietnam, the focus turned to surviving the war. Like many Americans, Lt. Col. Lindsay’s ideas evolved during the course of that war. Initially, he shared the official analysis, but in time, as he heard the experiences of his former students who were now officers in that war, he became an outspoken critic. When he retired from the Army he was free to express his views publicly; he became “Mister” George M. Lindsay, and no longer used his military title -- except when affixing his signature to one of his many strong letters opposing that war, and each of the wars that followed. Many of his letters, on this and other issues of current affairs, appeared in the Chronicle.
He was born in Westborough, MA on May 29, 1919 to George Maxim Lindsay, Jr. and Alice Ward Lindsay. His father, a volunteer fireman, was killed in the line of duty when George was only eight. His mother found work as a housekeeper in a psychiatric hospital to support George and his four younger siblings - brothers John, Harry, and Jim, and sister Margaret.
He married Bettye Macker Baker, also of Westborough, in 1942, on the eve of his departure for war. They had two daughters, Kris and Vicki, and enjoyed 37 years of marriage until Bettye’s death from cancer in 1979.
After the war, George Lindsay’s life horizon suddenly expanded. The GI Bill enabled him to attend Boston University, where he excelled as a student, and completed a Bachelor’s degree in only two years. Grateful for the blossoming opportunities his Army service had brought him, when he was called up for the Korean conflict he reenlisted and became a career Army officer.
When he retired from the Army in 1965 he settled in San Francisco and became the director of the Culinary Arts Program at the Job Corps Center in Pleasanton, CA. and later joined Cooper Construction Company.
In 1983 he met and married Danielle Salmon, a native of France. Throughout their 24 years of marriage the couple enjoyed being called “the lovebirds”, and even in their eighties had fun scandalizing the prudish with expressions of affection for each other – eliciting exclamations of “At your age?”
Though he was multiply decorated for valor in war, he took more pride in courageous acts off the battlefield, especially those occasions when he had stood up to the powerful on behalf of someone he felt was being wronged, especially when that wrong was due to prejudice. He stood up to bullies. He defended the rights of Japanese civilians in occupied Japan, of black soldiers in the newly-integrated army, and of disenfranchised young men in Job Corps. When vulnerable people asked George Lindsay for help he considered it an honor, and was willing to risk job and career by challenging high authorities, especially when he considered them to be pompous or incompetent.
George Lindsay was greatly admired for his intellect and his encyclopedic knowledge. He was a voracious reader and surrounded himself with reference books. He seemed to know almost everything, but children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren knew that whenever a discussion hinged on an unknown fact they would be pointed in the right direction and told to “look it up.” He also seemed to know how to do most everything practical -- building, plumbing, wiring, cooking, etc. – and he was a lifelong teacher; well into his 80s, he conducted a daily cooking class for his visiting grandson. He was a lifelong student, as well, especially of history and foreign affairs. Just two months before his death, at age 88, he launched a blog to share his ideas about current world affairs, as well as some of his memoirs.
He was affectionately called The Old Grey Bear, or TOGB, for short. The genesis of the name was an incident that was emblematic of his sense of duty and his strength of personality. Acting in community theater was a hobby for many years. He once played the role of a tough Russian fur trader in an epic about the history of Alaska. There was a fight scene. Rather than use conventional stage choreography he insisted his opponent throw him with real force, for the sake of realism. Unfortunately, someone had left a prop on the stage; when he fell hard on it his back was broken in three places. “The show must go on.” He finished the performance with a broken back, including, remarkably, an acrobatic fencing scene. The gritty character he was portraying called himself ‘The Big Black Bear’, and his fellow actors began calling him by that name instead of George. When his hair was no longer black he himself changed the moniker to The Old Grey Bear. He was known affectionately by that name for the rest of his life.
He is survived by his wife, Danielle, two daughters, a son-in-law, a grandson and his wife, two great-grand children, a brother, and numerous nieces, nephews and in-laws.
A Memorial Mass will be celebrated by Fr. Charles R. Gagan, S.J., on September 15, 6 PM, Saint Ignatius Church, San Francisco.
Memorial gifts may be made to
The St. Anthony Foundation.
