Obituary of George Atha Downsbrough Jr.

George Atha Downsbrough Jr, 72, died at home on November 3rd, 2023 in Patton Township, PA.

He is survived by his wife of 41 years, Tamara Arpaszew Downsbrough; his three daughters Leschia Ruhe Colhoun of Canberra, Australia, Melissa Cullimore (Zach) of Omaha, Nebraska and Lea Poggi (Gabe) of Alexandria, VA; seven grandchildren Kyle, Gabe, Margaret, Caden, Connor, Edith and Quinn; his brothers Peter Downsbrough (Kaatje) of Brussels, Belgium and Bruce Downsbrough of Breckenridge, Colorado. He is predeceased by his parents George and Margaret Downsbrough Sr, brother Anthony Downsbrough and wife Dorothy, and grandson Logan Cullimore.

He was born in Morristown, New Jersey on March 30, 1951 where he attended Montclair Academy and then graduated from Yale in 1973 with a degree in American Studies. Several years after graduation he moved to State College and took a position at WPSU as a cameraman. However, he aspired to be a writer and found a position at HRB Singer as a technician writing hardware manuals and settled into a long career there for over 30 years and retired as a project manager in 2011.

George built deep roots in the local community volunteering with the Centre County United Way for many years. In his retirement he was elected as a Patton Township Supervisor for 6 years and joined the airport board authority. As an avid outdoorsman his favorite pastimes included hunting, fishing and camping and he was always happiest out of doors with a task to accomplish. Gardening and tractor rides allowed him to maintain the yard to his high standards and also were favorite means of bonding with grandchildren. He also enjoyed traveling extensively with his wife and friends and maintained life-long friendships from many walks of his life.

A service celebrating his life will be held at Koch Funeral Home on Tuesday November 14th at 11am with viewings the day prior on Monday November 13th from 1-3pm and 5-7pm.

In lieu of flowers please donate to Centre County United Way, https://www.ccunitedway.org/form/donate 

Online condolences amy be made at www.kochfuneralhome.com.