John J. George, May 31, 2013. A resident of Santa Clara, George was born in Niagara Falls, NY, in 1944, to Joseph and Grace George. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Niagara University in 1967. Later that summer, he married Melanie Wozniak and they moved to Omaha, NE where John received his Juris Doctor degree from Creighton University in 1970. A job offer as general counsel for Executive Fund Life Insurance Company brought John, Melanie and their young daughters to the Bay Area in 1971. John opened his private legal practice in 1973 and continued to work as a trial lawyer and mediator until his retirement in 2012. He also taught in the Stanford Law School Trial Advocacy program and in the Santa Clara University and West Valley College Paralegal programs. John was a dedicated community servant who supported public education. In 1992 he created the Santa Clara Schools Foundation and served on its board for 19 years. In 2002 he incorporated the Santa Clara Teacher Housing Foundation, one of the first of its kind in the nation. John is survived by Melanie, his wife of 45 years; daughters Leslie Kloes ’96 (Chris) of Santa Clara and Merrill Turner ’93 (Brian)  of Santa Clara; grandchildren Caroline and Vincent Kloes; sister Rosemary (David) Gleason of Greensboro, NC and brother Joseph (Barbara) George of Niagara Falls, NY.