George Weil's Obituary
GEORGE WEIL
George passed away peacefully in his sleep on October 31. He was 96. George was an adventurer of a sort. Sort of not by choice. Born in Czechoslovakia in 1921, by 16 his step father and his mother had decided that George would benefit by a Swiss education in a hotel school in Lausanne. Before he could return to his parents and brother in Prague, the German invasion had begun. His parents and his brother were ultimately killed in a death camp. George was sent to a Swiss labor camp as were other foreign nationals. George was on his own. If you were willing to leave Switzerland there was a way out. The way out was to leave Switzerland and for George that was passage on a ship to Shanghai with stops in Cuba and the Panama Canal, where he had visitor visas. While in Panama, family friends arranged a permanent visa for him to live in Ecuador where he traveled and arrived as a 20 year old. In Guayaquil and Quito there was already a group of Czech and European Jews with whom he established himself. He hustled to make a living in various jobs—selling pots and pans and home goods. He was a gifted sales person who could convince you of your kitchen needs in 7 languages. He spoke fluent French, German, Czech, English, Italian, Spanish and Hungarian. He could get by in Polish, Russian, and Portuguese. His love of meeting people from other cultures and countries, we sometimes thought, was his way of connecting but also shining. George could also connect with his sense of humor and irony something he attributed to his Czech background. George was married to Marjana Fuss in Ecuador in 1946. Marjana or Mouche as she was known, and her family had escaped Germany shortly after Hitler’s election. When Mouche and George were able to secure a sponsor and a visa they came to this country in 1946. George immediately found work in New York as a waiter working in some of New York’s finest restaurants. He adapted and started using his strong sales skills to succeed. He soon improved his business knowledge and formed his own successful home improvement company which Mouche helped him run. He and Mouche both also worked together as successful real estate investors. Most of his working life was spent in New York: From Manhattan to Long Island and then to Greenwich Village where he and Mouche enjoyed “the scene” in the late 1960s until their move to Florida. Mouche passed away in 1994. George was an athlete: he was a skier, skater, and hockey player. He was also an avid and excellent tennis player from childhood until he was 90. He frequently played tennis with amateurs and pros at the Jockey Club and the Palm Bay Club, where he lived. He never told his tennis partners his age! George leaves behind a son, Ron Weil and his daughter-in-law Kathleen, 3 grandchildren, Zachary Weil and his wife Mary Olszweska, Alexandra Weil and her husband Tim Peper and Hannah Weil Mckinley and her husband Thomas McKinley who were all so inspired and amazed by his life of adventure and challenge. George has passed on to them a keen interest in politics, a love of diverse cultures and peoples, alarm at the current state of this country, a Czech sense of irony and humor, and a clear eyed independent streak. George also leaves behind his ‘Significant Other’, Dorothy Stein. They met 19 years ago and began the final chapter in his amazing life. They traveled extensively, and were very active in the social and community life of Miami and Coral Gables. George quickly became a part of Dorothy’s extended family including son and daughter, Sharon Graham Watson, Dillon Graham, son, Bill Stein and wife, Leslie. Plus the six grandchildren who were important in his life, Brandon Watson, Shannon Watson, Lucas Graham, Lea Graham, Blaine Stein, William Stein. He will be remembered and loved and now missed. He was unique. Memorial services have yet to be set.
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