George Edward McCord, III, 85, of Tavares, Florida, passed away on February 9, 2024, after a sudden decline in health. George was the only child of Ruth (nee Zickefoose) and George McCord, Jr., born in Akron, Ohio, on July 31, 1938. George was a 1956 graduate of Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio. He then was able to “escape Ohio”…his words. In 1960, George received an A.B., majoring in physics, from Harvard College where he was a member of Eliot House and the Class of 1960. In 1963, George received an M.S. in Mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
George had a long career in statistical modeling, first for the military and, beginning in the mid-1980s, in finance. His career started at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. In 1966, NATO took him to Germany where he met his future wife of 56 years, Pierrette Pain, a French national also working for NATO. Pierrette and George married 19 September 1967. George and Pierrette built a life in the Washington D.C. area where their two children, Valerie and Geoffrey, were born. A career change into futures modeling precipitated a move to Weston, Connecticut, in 1986. Retirement brought them to Lake County, Florida in 2005, where George and Pierrette became active at St. Edward’s Episcopal Church in Mount Dora, Florida with George serving on the vestry for a term or two. Throughout a career of primarily self-employment, Pierrette stood by and supported George and made his dreams possible.
Despite an early introduction to sailing from his father, George’s passion was aviation. His first plane was a sporty Beechcraft Bonanza which he and Pierrette, with various friends and family, used to travel the country. After moving to Connecticut, George joined the Westchester Flying Club. Planning to attend an evening meeting of the club meant that George was not yet in his office in Building 9 of the World Trade Center on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001. After his children were grown, George bought a Beechcraft Baron, a twin-engine plane which was used to visit his grandchildren in Kansas. His last plane was a Mooney, which he flew with his son, Geoffrey, most recently to visit friends in Maryland and Connecticut. George racked up four thousand hours in the cockpit and has passed his legacy and pilot knowledge to Geoffrey along with their Mooney. George is survived by his wife, Pierrette; his children: Geoffrey also of Tavares and Valerie and her spouse, Jason of Topeka, Kansas. He is also survived by grandchildren: Alexander and Abigail, both of Lawrence, Kansas.
Services were held at St. Edward’s Episcopal Church on April 19, 2024. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to St. Edward’s, 460 N. Grandview St.; Mount Dora, Florida 32757 or Cornerstone Hospice, 2445 Lane Park Road, Tavares, Florida 32778.
