George E. Bacon, 91, passed away peacefully Wednesday morning, December 27, in his sleep.
Born on April 13, 1932, in New York City, he was the only child of Priscilla (Anderson) and Edgar S. Bacon, a dentist who served in World War II in the Pacific for two years. George was an Eagle Scout who graduated from Scarsdale High School in 1949, and Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT, in 1953.
That summer George worked as a counselor at Camp Sloan in Connecticut, where he met another counselor, Grace Graham of Milltown, New Brunswick, Canada. Shortly after Grace graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1956, they were married in her hometown.
George graduated from Duke University Medical School in 1957, then enlisted the next year in the U.S. Army as a captain with the 14th Cavalry. The young couple moved to Fulda, West Germany, on the East German border, and traveled across Europe on their days off in their TR-3 convertible, creating lifelong memories. The 14th Cavalry was still holding the border when the Berlin Wall went up overnight in 1961.
In 1959 George and Grace had their first child, Nancy, followed by George Anderson (Andy) in 1962, and John in 1964.
George returned to New York in 1961 with his family to complete his residency at Columbia’s Presbyterian Hospital, then moved to Ann Arbor in 1963, where George pursued his career in pediatric endocrinology at the University of Michigan Hospital.
In 1975 George was the lead author, with three colleagues, of A Practical Guide to Pediatric Endocrinology, which enjoyed 3 editions spanning 15 years. He was beloved by colleagues, nurses, staffers, and especially the residents, whose program he led. He was a skilled and caring doctor to thousands of children, many of whom are still in touch decades later.
In 1986 George became Chair of Pediatrics at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. In five years the department rebuilt the residency program, earned full accreditation, and became profitable, before Bacon accepted the position of Director of Medical Education at Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In 1995 he and Grace returned to their home in Ann Arbor, where he resumed his practice at the University of Michigan as a professor emeritus until he retired in 2005.
In his last few weeks he was bedridden but still sharp, and at peace. When asked if he had any regrets, he shook his head and said, “No. I’ve had a good marriage, and three good kids. I never wanted more than that. So I’m content.” His greatest joy in his final days was sitting with Grace, his wife of 67 years.
A few months ago he wrote down his favorite phrases, some borrowed, some his, including: “Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear eats you;” “It wasn’t supposed to be easy or else everyone would do it;” and his favorite saying, of his own creation: “When you’re on the floor, you can’t fall out of bed.”
His sense of humor and good cheer never failed him, even at the end. He was a genuinely good man, dearly loved by his wife Grace, his children Nancy McMillan (Ian), Andy (Jill), and John (Christie), and his grandchildren Emily and Kate McMillan, and Teddy Bacon.
His service will be held at St. Andrews on Saturday, April 13, on his 92nd birthday. All are welcome.