Necrology

George Rhodes Waddington '38

Jun. 5, 1917-May. 3, 2006

George Rhodes Waddington ’38, an educator whose 40-year career encompassed both high school and college teaching, was born on June 5, 1917, in Clark Mills, NY, not far from College Hill. The son of Samuel L.R. Waddington and the former Annie Bailey, immigrants from Yorkshire, England, he grew up in Clark Mills, where his father was employed as a club steward. In 1934, following his graduation from Clinton Central High School, George Waddington, also known as “Waddy,” commuted up the Hill to Hamilton. He played some intramural basketball but his sport of choice was tennis, in which he would have a lifetime involvement.

After receiving his B.S. degree in 1938, George Waddington went to what is now the State University of New York at Albany, where he earned an M.A. in social studies education in 1939. His teaching career began at the Hoosac School, a private boarding school in Hoosick, NY, near the Vermont border. In 1942, however, after the U.S. had entered World War II, he left the classroom to enlist in the Navy under its V-7 program. Most of his time in uniform was spent as a navigation instructor.

Released from the Navy as a lieutenant in 1946, George Waddington moved to Oneonta, NY, when he obtained appointment as a social studies teacher at Oneonta High School. He grew very fond of the city, where he would raise his family and continue to live for the rest of his life. Besides teaching and serving as director of adult education in the Oneonta Public Schools, he chaired the city’s Public Service Commission for three years and was vice president of the Family Service Association. He later served for two years in Oneonta’s Common Council, having been the first Democrat to be elected from his ward.

A great admirer of Hamilton history professor Edgar B. “Digger” Graves, whose teaching he aspired to emulate, George Waddington remained at Oneonta High School until 1964, when he undertook the training of teachers in social studies as an associate professor of education at the State University College at Oneonta. Promoted to professor, he continued to find teaching both challenging and satisfying, and even after his retirement in 1983 he kept his hand in by teaching a current issues course.

Soon after his arrival in Oneonta in 1946, George Waddington organized a summer youth program that included free tennis lessons at the city’s Wilber Park. The program continues today, and in 1999 the city dedicated the tennis courts in Wilber Park, a place he treasured, in his name. Besides playing tennis almost weekly (he was still on the courts in his 80s), he coached the Oneonta High School tennis team for a decade beginning in 1954. His teams compiled a 90% win record, including two State championships.

A firm believer in the educational value of travel, George Waddington began his own global perambulations in 1963, thanks to a Fulbright award for summer study in Brazil. With his wife, the former Frances Sabalskis, whom he wed on July 29, 1944, in New York City, he subsequently toured virtually every continent as well as almost all the countries of Europe. They were often accompanied by their children, for George considered his family the “centerpiece” of his life.

George R. Waddington, a faithful alumnus, died at his home in Oneonta on May 3, 2006. Predeceased by his wife, he is survived by a daughter, Margot L. Vagliardo; a son, George R. Waddington, Jr.; and five grandchildren. Memorial services were held at St. James Episcopal Church in Oneonta, where he had been for many years an usher.

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