George Anthony Pavelis was born February 11, 1925, in Billings, Montana. As a child, he was raised by the Sisters of Providence at St. Thomas Home in Great Falls, Montana. In early adolescence he was adopted into a loving farming family, the Hansens, where he developed his passion for agriculture. As a teenager, he planted his own small acreage on the farm on which he grew wheat. He learned how to maintain and repair engines on a 1930’s John Deere tractor. Later in Falls Church, neighbors would bring him their lawn mowers and small tractors to fix, which he enjoyed. George attended Belt Valley High School in Belt, Montana. His senior class had five students, two boys and three girls. Like young men at that time, at the age of eighteen he was drafted and inducted into the U.S. Army in December of 1943. He served in the 723rd Railway Operations Battalion in Patton’s Army as they fought through northern France and Germany. While in Europe, he became a proficient carpenter, a skill which he used his entire life for cabinet making and home renovations. After an honorable discharge in April of 1946, George returned to Montana where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in 1950, and his Master of Agricultural Economics degree in 1954, both from Montana State College. In the fall of that year, he entered Iowa State College in Ames, Iowa, to begin work on his doctorate in Agricultural Economics. While at Iowa State, George met Janice Godwin in a statistics class. They were married on January 26, 1957. During that year, they both continued their degree work. George finished his PhD in 1957, and the couple welcomed their first child, George, in December of that year. They would later welcome their daughter, Betty, on July 4th of 1959. In mid-January of 1958, they flew to Washington, D.C., where George would begin a career with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), specializing in the economics of water resources and land use. His work would take him all over the country, as well as overseas to Romania and Venezuela. A prolific writer, his name appeared on hundreds of USDA publications used by farmers, other researchers, and congressmen alike. He "retired" but kept working with the USDA in a part-time capacity for many years. Even after final retirement, he kept current and contributed to various projects of his colleagues around the country. To his last days, he was an avid gardener, and not entirely satisfied unless he was planting and tending flowers and vegetables. In 2015, George and Jan left their home in Falls Church, Virginia, and moved to Midlothian, Virginia, where they lived with their son George and his wife Diane, and in close proximity to their daughter Betty and her husband Dewane. The couple had lived in Falls Church, in the same house, for 55 years, where they raised their family, and were active in church and community. After 61 years of marriage, Janice went to be with the Lord in December of 2018. George continued to stay busy with his favorite activities ¬- playing miniature golf, getting coffee, taking rides through beautiful farmland, and visiting with his grandkids and great grandkids. Exactly one week shy of his 97th birthday, early on the morning of February 4th, George went quietly to be with the Lord. We love you and will miss you Dad and Grandpa. George is survived by brother Harry Pavelis of Concord, CA, son George Pavelis and his wife Diane of Midlothian, VA, daughter Betty Stone and her husband Dewane of Midlothian, VA, granddaughter Anita Marshall and her husband Ed of Gainesville, FL, granddaughter Renee Esposito and her husband A.J. of St. Simon's Island, GA, grandson Aaron Pavelis of Richmond, VA, and great grandsons Isaac and Ezekiel Esposito. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to United Methodist Family Services of Virginia, Inc. in Richmond VA online, or by check to UMFS, 3900 West Broad Street, Richmond, VA23230, attn: Development Office.