George Joseph Botwinick

George Joseph Botwinick died peacefully, at 98, on November 21, 2021. Born on March 23, 1923, George grew up in Bayonne, N.J., where he played Varsity Basketball and was nicknamed “The Bayonne Bomber” because of his shooting prowess.  After high school, he took a cross-country train, to attend the University of Wisconsin until World War II began.  After Midshipman School, George became a Lieutenant in the Navy and was stationed in the Pacific during the war.

George returned to Madison, Wisconsin after the war to finish his BA degree in Accounting. He brought with him a young woman named Doris Slavin, who became his wife of 53 years.  They met when he was a lifeguard and she was a waitress at a Catskills resort and wed after a six-month courtship. After he graduated, they settled in Staten Island N.Y., where they began their family, with a daughter (Geri) and a son (Howard).

About 12 years later, the Botwinicks moved to Westfield, N.J., where they lived for more than 30 years. George had his own accounting firm in NYC. When their older children were teenagers, they welcomed another son (Philip). George encouraged Doris’ sculpting and painting business, and enjoyed summers in Beach Haven on Long Beach Island.  For several years, before Doris died in 1998, they retired to Monroe N.J.  George later met Sandy Linzer and lived with her for 20 years, in Monroe and Santa Cruz, California. Most recently George lived with his son Howard and his wife Jutta, in Ithaca, N.Y. He is survived by his three children and their spouses, Geri, Howard (and Jutta), and Phil (and Lori), and five grandchildren, Jessica (and Ed) Ruff, Gillian McGrath, and Alex, Katya, and Casey Botwinick, living in N.J., Holland, D.C., and California. He also has two great grand-children in NJ, Gabbi and Amelia Ruff.  George’s family meant everything to him. He was a generous, caring father and a wonderful grandfather. His family loved him dearly, and he will be greatly missed. Donations can be made in his memory to the Community Food Bank of New Jersey.