Obituary of George A. Burgtorf

April 18, 1932 - July 6, 2024

George A. Burgtorf. Age 92 of Flat Rock.

George Burgtorf was born on April 18^th of 1932 near Cheboygan Michigan. 

He was one of eight children born to August and Francella Burgtorf.  Emma, Bill, Aletha, Tom, Bob, Rick and Jack all predeceased him.

Surviving in addition to his wife Evelyn Burgtorf are his son, Kirt Burgtorf and his wife Lynn; two grandchildren Stacey and Luke and his wife Jenny; and three great grandchildren Addison, Charlotte and Isaac.

When George was a boy, he moved to Saranac to live with his sister Emma.  He lived near Saranac throughout the majority of his life.

Money was limited when he was growing up, so he searched for used and discarded bicycle parts, and managed to build himself a working bicycle. 

As he grew older, he bought his first car.  The car needed a lot of work and the junkyard was the place for parts.  He worked with his brothers to get his car in working order.

When George graduated high school, he started working as a machine operator at Extruded Metals, in Belding Michigan.  In a few years, he moved to the maintenance department.  As it turns out he worked there for over 40 years.

After starting work, George and Evelyn met.  They were married shortly after.  And have been married for 71 years.

After starting work and getting married, he went into the Army.  He served as a Sergeant in the 2^nd Infantry Division.  He was a telephone installer and repair Sergeant in the Korean Conflict. 

When he was first in Korea, he was assigned to a large tent.  Being the new guy, he was in charge of filling the gas for the stove when it ran out of fuel at night.  After the first night of waking up cold in the night and going outside to add gas to the tank for the stove, he had an idea.  He went to the motor pool, and borrowed some tubing off of a broken-down truck.  He used that tubing to hook up two tanks to the stove.  From that night forward the stove would run through the night without needing to fill it with fuel.

During George’s time in Korea, Marilyn Monroe was on a USO entertainment tour. One stop on the tour was where George was stationed.  As luck would have it, not only did he watch the show, but he had lunch with Marilyn Monroe.

Arriving back in the states, George decided he needed a utility trailer.  He went to the local junk-yard and picked-up an axel and wheels.  He then picked up steal and wood.  He used these materials to build himself a utility trailer that he used for over 60 years.

In the 1960’s George decided to move to the country.  He bought farmland, and proceeded to build a pole-barn.  He needed a tractor, so he purchased a well-used Massy-Harris ‘44 special.  It needed a lot of work, and George took on the challenge.  The tractor, with repairs made and new paint, served him well for over 40 years.

A few years later he started work on a farm house, and completed it in a couple of years.  He did everything from laying the block basement to finishing and painting the interior.

George was very adept at working with metal.  He became well know for his skills and people would have him do custom welding.

George loved to travel.  He traveled to nearly every state in the union.  Only Alaska and a couple of eastern seaboard states were missed.  After retiring they stayed a few winters in their camper.  Then they bought a house in Homosassa Florida, which is north of Tampa.

George loved spending time with family and friends.  He always looked forward to spending time with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

George was always ready to help with a project.  One hot and steamy summer day he helped install a new overhead garage door in the back of his grandson’s garage.  He loved telling the story of cutting out the back wall and installing the door.

We all know that George loved to tell stories.  If you noticed, each had him in some way solving a problem or fixing things.  Well, he is the center of this story as well, living a good life for 92 years.