December 15, 2005 Issue                                                              

©2005 The Chestnut Hill Local

Obituaries

George Easby

George Gordon Meade Easby, 87, of Chestnut Hill, died Dec. 11 after a protracted illness. A member of one of the nation’s founding families, he was the great grandson and namesake of General George Gordon Easby of Civil War fame.

A lifelong Philadelphian, Mr. Easby was educated at area private schools and spent five years studying illustration at Philadelphia College of Art. It was after a tour of duty in the United States Army, during World War II, that his syndicated political cartoons appeared in newspapers and magazines. His cartoon panel, Air Power Frankenstein, depicting the powers of the American eagle over the Axis powers, was awarded a presidential citation by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Mr. Easby later pursued a career in theater, appearing in Cape Cod area summer productions with Gertrude Lawrence and other stars of the era. He spent a brief time in Hollywood as both an actor and producer.

After the death of his parents, Mr. Easby organized and curated his family’s large collection of important American furniture, silver and china and proudly exhibited the same by occasionally opening his home to the public as a benefit for local charities with which he was associated. Some of the more important pieces of furniture and silver have been loaned to both the White House and the U.S. Department of State for its diplomatic reception rooms. For 24 years, Mr. Easby served on the Fine Arts Committee of the Department of State, and in 1995 he was appointed an executive advisor to the Under Secretary of State. Selected pieces from Mr. Easby’s furniture collection were copied and marketed as “The Baleroy Collection.”

He was a noted animal lover and was well known for a succession of exotic parrots he raised over many years.

Mr. Easby was predeceased by his parents, May Stevenson Easby and Henrietta Large Easby, and a younger brother, M. Stevenson Easby Jr. Mr. Easby is survived by several cousins and by his friend, Robert P. Yrigoyen.

Funeral arrangements are being made by the Jacob F. Ruth Funeral Home, 8413 Germantown Ave. in Chestnut Hill. Calling hours will be on Thursday, Dec. 15 at 11 a.m., followed by a brief committal at East Laurel Hill Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to Keystone Hospice, 8765 Stenton Ave., Wyndmoor, PA 19038 or to the Wills Eye Hospital, 840 Walnut St., Phila., PA 19107.

John Jenks IV

John Story Jenks IV, 22, of Keswick, died in his sleep on Dec. 4. Mr. Jenks was born in Albany, NY and lived in Philadelphia until his family moved to Charlottesville in 1994. He graduated from The Covenant School in 2002.

Mr. Jenks is survived by his parents, Dr. and Mrs. John S. Jenks III; his two sisters Elizabeth McPherson Andrews Jenks and Sarah Boykin Jenks; his brother Stanley Rugumayo (Emiko) and their children; his maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Harrigan of Charleston, SC, his paternal grandmother, Margaret Matthews Jenks of St. Louis. He was pre-deceased by his paternal grandfather, Morton Jenks, of Philadelphia.

A funeral service was held at Trinity Presbyterian Church on Dec. 9, followed by a graveside service at Monticello Memorial Gardens. Memorial contributions may be made to The Covenant School, 175 Hickory Street, Charlottesville, VA 22902.