‘He lived life to the fullest’ until Bellingham man tested positive for coronavirus
Donald George was an avid golfer and a kind man with a big smile.
“That smile gets everybody. That’s why people love him,” daughter Stacy George said to The Bellingham Herald on Friday, April 10, as she remembered her 85-year-old father.
She last saw and spoke to him — on the FaceTime video app — around March 18, when he was being treated in St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham for a bleeding ulcer. Her dad was smiling and he was chipper, she said.
Donald George was set to return to Shuksan Healthcare Center, a skilled nursing facility in Bellingham, on March 20 when news broke of what would be the first cases of a COVID-19 outbreak there.
Although he didn’t have symptoms, the hospital tested Donald George for the virus and he was put into quarantine for 14 days. He never left quarantine and died in the hospital on March 28, according to his family.
Donald George was among the first Whatcom County residents to die after testing positive for the virus that causes COVID-19, the respiratory disease that has become a global pandemic.
His may have been the seventh death, based on cases being tracked by The Bellingham Herald, and what his daughter shared gave some of the first glimpses of how families are grappling with COVID-19 in Whatcom County.
Even before test results came back, the hospital told Stacy George they believed her dad had COVID-19 because of his symptoms and his chest X-ray showed that the illness was in his lungs.
Life in Whatcom County
“He really lived life to its fullest until he couldn’t anymore,” Stacy George said.
Donald James George was born on Jan. 27, 1935, in Bellingham to Wellington Abbey and Oasis Brilliant George, according to his obituary.
He grew up on Victor Street in Bellingham, where he worked starting at age 8 by selling industrial soap to businesses around town and then later delivering the newspaper.
He graduated from Bellingham High School in 1953 and subsequently worked for the Lynden Tribune while also serving in the Navy Reserve. In 1973, he and wife Patricia bought Towner Press Inc. in Bellingham, and operated the family business for 37 years.
Donald George liked to play golf at the country club in Bellingham, where he was one of the original members, as well as ride his bicycle and take scenic drives to the mountains. He was also a big fan of the University of Washington Huskies.
Stacy George said her dad used to ride his bicycle all around Lynden, when he lived there, covering up to 30 miles a day.
“People would see him in town riding his bike a few years back, before he couldn’t do it anymore,” said Stacy George, a Lynden resident, adding that she took care of her father for three years.
He loved that he grew up in Bellingham and was awed by Whatcom County’s outdoor landscapes.
“My dad was an example of a person who appreciated his life in this area,” Stacy Gorge said. “He always said, ‘I live in the most beautiful area in the country.’ He would say, ‘I’m not religious but nature is my church,’ or something along those lines.”
Donald George left Shuksan Healthcare Center — “These guys were wonderful, they really were,” she said of Shuksan — for St. Joseph hospital on March 16 to be treated for his bleeding ulcer. He was quarantined and tested on March 20.
Good spirits and then decline
“At that point he was in good spirits and was showing no symptoms. He began coughing around the 23rd and became increasingly worse over the next few days, needing oxygen and becoming more confused and agitated,” Stacy George said.
She added: “A chest X-ray was taken and the prognosis was ‘poor.’ The test results were still unavailable at that time, but based on that (X-ray), the doctor said it ‘looks positive.’ ”
Test results that came back on March 25 confirmed that he had COVID-19.
Stacy George said she couldn’t be there with her dad at the end.
She has diabetes and asthma, she said, placing her at high risk from the illness. She also works at a grocery store, in the deli section. Doctors advised her not to go to the hospital to see her dad.
But her sisters — wearing personal protective equipment such as masks and gowns — were able to be there with their dad in his hospital room at the end. He calmed down when he saw them, said “hello” and “I love you.” He went into a deep sleep, Stacy George said, and then a couple of days later, he died peacefully.
Knowing her sisters were there, that her dad wouldn’t be among those dying alone gave her peace of mind.
“That took so much of my anxiety away,” Stacy George said.
If you’ve lost a family member in Whatcom County to coronavirus, The Bellingham Herald would like to talk you to share their story. Please email newsroom@bellinghamherald.com.
