Matthew

Expos 9

On July 1^st 1996, George Rueben Burns Levering passed away after eighty-three long and eventful years. He was succeeded by his wife, five sons, and a number of grandchildren. Although it was his tough, determined, and hardworking attitude that was the means for many of his successes, George never gave up an opportunity to have a good laugh and it was both these good spirits along with his tough exterior that made him the great man that he was. He was successful in many aspects of his long life. Being born a farmer, he advanced himself to becoming a successful businessman working for TransWorld Airlines. Faced with tough times both physically and mentally, George was more often than not able to persevere. As those who knew him would tell you, George Levering, my grandfather, is someone worth remembering.

My grandfather was born George Rueben Burns, on April 16, 1913. He was born in Roanoke, Missouri on a small farm, literally. He lived with his parents, Orlando and Mini Burns, and his two brothers Nathaniel and Allen, on this small farm until he reached the age of eight, when he and his his family moved to Kansas City. His early life was dramatically affected with the death of his brother Allen at the young age of twelve. His death at such a young age was an anomaly to his family, but many doctors believed that he most likely had a severe liver condition or liver cancer which lead to his early death. My grandfather’s natural toughness allowed him to fight through this extremely tough time and many hard times to come. Instead of assuming a lugubrious attitude after difficult situations, George was able to always keep a positive outlook as he was determined to overcome whatever obstacles he might face. As a result of his younger brothers death, George spent a lot of his time with his other brother Nathaniel, who was four years older than he was. George was a hard worker from an early age. He always worked hard in school and received good grades. He skipped two grades during his schooling, and his hard work was finally rewarded when he was admitted to Baker University at seventeen years of age.

College at this time was not something that everyone was involved in, and it was only because of my grandfather’s determination that he was able to go to one. Not only did he have to get the grades to be admitted, but his parents were unable to provide much financial support for him, and he needed to work hours after school, on the weekends, and during the summer to have enough money to pay for it. The time he was in college was not a time of joy in America. The Great Depression was just beginning and needless to say hard times and poverty were about to become more and more ubiquitous. This played more of an effect after college for George than during the time he spent at Baker. He kept focused on getting a good education and preparing for a career after college. Hard work was not the only quality my grandfather showed at college, in years to come he would tell countless stories about the pranks he played on his roommates and about all the good times he had at Baker University. A story he loved to tell that always got a smile was when him and his buddies locked their roommate in his room right before a big test. The kid was the nerdy type, with strait A’s his whole life and they left him in his room till the last possible second and then he had to sprint to his class. He would tell funny stories and tales of good pranks through the rest of his life and they never failed to draw out a good laugh. His good sense of humor was shown many times throughout his life, whether good times or bad. My grandfather also showed a sensitive side in college when he met the woman of his dreams, Lois Schlegal.

George and Lois would describe their first encounter as love at first sight. They first met at the end of their senior years and they continued seeing each other after college had ended. Times were extremely tough for them both of my grandparents due to the great depression. Although it was extremely hard for George to get along financially, all he knew was that he loved Lois and that he would work as hard as he possibly could to get a job and get enough money to begin a new married life. Because jobs were so scarce at this time the only job my grandfather, a college graduate, could get was delivering papers on a bicycle. He was determined however and kept on delivering papers until he found a job playing professional basketball for TWA. This was before the NBA and different companies had their own professional teams. Sports was something George really enjoyed because he had a lot of fun playing them, not to mention he was naturally good at them standing about six foot two with a very athletic build. George, loving to have a good time, played sports whenever he could and finding this job was great for him. Playing for TWA proved propitious, as George was able to get a job loading baggage onto TWA’s airplanes, which although it doesn’t sound great, was for anyone at the time of the depression a great deal because it was a steady job. It was at this time when he had a real job, that he asked Lois for her hand in marriage, and shortly after they eloped and began thinking towards the future.

Hard work and determination drove George up through the ranks of TWA. While starting his work with conveyor belts, being the educated man he was he was able to put in long hours and slowly get promoted up through the ranks. His zealous attitude made him put in more and more hard work. Consequently by the end of his career he was promoted all the way up to being the station manager of Kennedy airport.

During the early parts of his hard working career George also had begun a loving family with his wife. He had his first two kids in 1938 and 1939 named Gordon and Gary Burns. It was because of the time of their births, and his low draft number that George stayed out of World War II. Throughout work he continued to love his children and his wife, and through strict but loving treatment raised eventually five successful boys. Something very interesting happened to him during this period of his life that would change the way he and his family would be know, he changed his name. George was called to the hospital one day to find his father who had come down with a terrible illness on his death bed. Orlando told him what he had never told anyone before in his life. He said that having been estranged from his abusive family at a young age, he ran away from home and changed his name from Levering to Burns. After his fathers death, George came home to his wife and two kids, and told them that they would be changing their family name to Levering. Changing his name after almost thirty years is a good example of his character. George was the kind of guy who always did what he felt was right, and if he felt that it was right to change his families name back to its original form, then that is what he would do. After these turn of events my grandparents had three more children, Robert, Donald and my father James Levering.

As far as his personal habits George was not a perfect man. He smoked a pack of cigarettes a day and was twenty pounds overweight. He lived like this until his first of three heart attacks. His first heart attack occurred on a vacation to Tampa, Florida. Him and my grandmother were staying at a friend’s house when in the middle of their last night there when George began experiencing strong chest pains.

"George I think you are having a heart attack" said the wife of the family they were staying with worriedly, "you need to go to a hospital immediately".

"Nonsense" George replied, "I’m on vacation, I’ll go to the hospital when I get home". He got his wish and my grandparents got on a plane, and flew back to Kansas City.

"All right George, lets go to the hospital" my grandmother, who strenuously objected to not going to the Tampa hospital said.

"No, its too late to check into a hospital, we’ll go in the morning" was George’s response.

My grandfather got up the following morning, and as he did his whole life put on his thick bifocals, and slicked-back his hair with gel. Then after breakfast, with a florid face he checked into the local hospital where he was immediately put into intensive care where he nearly died, for he had been having a heart attack he whole time. Earlier, George’s mental toughness was shown while battling through bad times such as the great depression. Here it is also evident that he was also extremely tough physically, even though this instance was not a good time for him to show such a quality, because the damage to his heart eventually truncated a couple years off his life.

George had two more heart attacks and a stroke during the remainder of his life. It was however a failing liver that ultimately caused his passing on in 1996. There was a large family he left behind at the time of his death, with his five boys having a total of 10 children of their own, and a number of grandchildren. His strong family ties were played out even during his late ailing years, and he flew all around the county for family weddings, births, holidays and even for a single grandchild’s baseball game. Love and laughter were given off from my grandfather in every room he entered, and his work ethic sets examples for anyone he was around. Although neither famous nor perfect, George Ruben Burns Levering was someone special, who remains in the hearts of anyone who had the pleasure of knowing him.