Necrology

George Arthur Padgett '54

Feb. 17, 1932-Dec. 29, 2005

George Arthur Padgett ’54, who retired as senior vice president and general counsel of the Lionel Corp. and went on to serve his New Jersey community as mayor, was born on February 17, 1932, in New York City. A son of Arthur S, general auditor of the Columbia Broadcasting System, and Marion Schramm Padgett, he grew up in Queens and prepared for college at St. Paul’s School in Garden City. He entered Hamilton in 1950. Swinging “a potent bat,” George Padgett lettered for four years in baseball and also played a variety of intramural sports. A member of Alpha Delta Phi, he served on the staff of The Hamiltonian and was graduated, having majored in political science, in 1954.

In September of that year, he went off to military service with the U.S. Army. Attached to the Counter-Intelligence Corps in Berlin, he remained in uniform for three years and was discharged with the rank of sergeant. Thereafter he enrolled in law school at Georgetown University, where he obtained his LL.B. degree in 1960. After a brief stint with the Washington, DC, law firm of Covington & Burling, he settled in New Jersey as an associate in the firm of Pitney, Hardin & Kipp in Newark.

In 1965, George Padgett began his long and distinguished career with the Lionel Corp. as assistant secretary and corporate counsel. Elected secretary of the model train and electronic parts manufacturer in 1970, he was appointed senior vice president and general counsel in 1983. At that time he was also named to Lionel’s board of directors. In the 1980s, when the corporation went through bankruptcy proceedings, he played a key role in its successful survival. He retired in 1993.

In 1986, George Padgett, who had previously commuted to work in Manhattan from Summit, NJ, took up residence in the New Jersey borough of Hopewell. There he began to get involved in community affairs and local Republican politics. He served on Hopewell’s planning and zoning boards, and, in 1992, he successfully ran for his first elective office as a member of the Hopewell Borough Council. Two years later, he was chosen mayor by the Council when the previous mayor resigned. Elected to the office the following year and reelected in 1999, he served two terms, retiring in 2003.

George Padgett, who considered his “dollar-a-year” public service his “payback” to the community, was a firm believer in sharing one’s success in life in some way with others. Highly appreciative of his Hamilton education, he “shared” with the College through generous support and service on the Alumni Council and as president of the Northern New Jersey Alumni Association, as well as participation in Hamilton’s fund-raising activities.

In 2003, George Padgett and his second wife, the former Ann Maloney Miller, whom he had wed in 1986, moved to Sarasota, FL. There they took full advantage of the many cultural opportunities the community offered, while George, a passionate golfer, modestly admitted that he still managed “a decent round from time to time.”

George A. Padgett died unexpectedly in Sarasota on December 29, 2005. In addition to his wife, he is survived by a daughter and son, Ann Johnson and James D. Padgett, born of his first marriage, on December 15, 1962, in Madison, NJ, to the late Jane Adams Padgett. Also surviving are a stepson and stepdaughter, Jeffrey J. and Molly C. Miller, and two granddaughters and a brother and sister.

 

Necrology Home