George Gart Obituary

Gart Jr., George John Born February 29, 1924, in Chicago, passed away at his home on Saturday, July 20, 2019. He was the second oldest child of George and Bertha Gart. He was predeceased by his wife, Audrey Margaret Beckenbaugh Gart; and his sisters Dorothy and Laberta. He is survived by his brother, Walter. He attended St. Mathias Grade School and Amundsen High School. He spent many hours at Winnemac Park while enjoying his favorite sport of baseball. He was also awarded the "Silver Skates" for ice skating/racing. He was drafted into the Army during WWII and bravely fought for his country in France, Belgium, England and Germany. He rarely spoke of his part in the war and was a very humble man; however, he was awarded a purple heart. During the war, he began to write to the love of his life, Audrey. They met in person after the war and married on January 18, 1947. Together they loved and raised five daughters, Sandra Dettloff, Joy (Louis) Vernagallo, Pamela (Joseph) Siepka, Lynne (Robert) Shields, and Audra Gart (Anthony); loving Papa to Nicole, Renee, Danielle, Georgianne, Audrie, Brett, Bobby, and Sean; loving great-grandfather to nine beautiful children. George worked for the CTA for over forty years and was awarded membership into the Million Mile Club by the National Safety Council for outstanding performance in driving 1,000,000 miles or 25,000 hours without a preventable accident. While working full time, he also worked part-time jobs and umpired baseball games. After retiring from the CTA, he worked for the Chicago Cubs, a job he fully enjoyed, as he was a lifelong Cubs fan. George volunteered many hours at St. Josaphat Church with Audrey. He had a passion for animals and will be greatly missed by his dog, Lexie Lulu who brought him much comfort and companionship. He was devoted to his family and his love to all will be sincerely missed by many who describe him as loving, loyal, gentle, kind, generous, humble, hardworking, and unselfish. The family will receive friends and family for visitation at St. Josaphat Church, 2311 N. Southport, Chicago at 9:30 a.m. on Friday followed by a Funeral Mass at 11 a.m. Interment at Memorial Park Cemetery in Skokie.