George A. Abel

Funeral services for George A. Abel, 78, Lawrence, will be at 2 p.m. Monday at Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home. Burial will follow at Reno Cemetery with military honors conducted by Veterans of Foreign Wars Alford-Clarke Post No. 852 of Lawrence.Mr. Abel died Thursday, Dec. 18, 2008, at Lawrence Memorial Hospital.He was born Aug. 10, 1930, in Lawrence, the son of Peter Paul and Georgia Helen Patterson Abel.Mr. Abel graduated from Lawrence High School in 1948 and attended Kansas University until enlisting in the U.S. Air Force. He served from 1950 to 1954. After leaving the service, he worked for North American Aviation in California, Dupont and then Remington for 33 years. After his retirement in 1989, he worked for Bailey Bock Hoe in McLouth.Mr. Abel was a life member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Alford-Clarke Post No. 852, Lawrence.He married Mary V. Channel on Nov. 1, 1954, in Lawrence. She died Sept. 30, 1988.Survivors include a son, David A., Fairbanks, Alaska; two daughters, Julie A. Little, of the home, and Rosie Hicks, Independence, Mo.; and 14 grandchildren, Sabrina, Molly, Bradley, Code, Blaine, Erick, Riley, Austin, Anne, Regan, Emma, Georgia, Madison and Wyatt.Friends may call from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home, where the family will receive them from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.The family suggests memorials to Veterans of Foreign Wars Alford-Clarke Post 852, Lawrence, or Disabled Veterans Association, sent in care of the funeral home.Online condolences may be sent at rumsey-yost.com.