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Thread: R.I.P. George Beshore of Pennsylvania

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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Alexandria VA
    Posts
    15,887

    Default R.I.P. George Beshore of Pennsylvania

    One of my best cabinentmakers hadn't been answering his phone this past fall. George was elderly, and I figured that he'd been visiting his kids and away from the shop for the winter. His pieces are expensive and demand had fallen off for them, so I didn't pay much attention to not communicating with him until a customer wanted a custom mirror with brass sconce from George, so I set to find out where he was in earnest the other day. All his phones had been disconnected and I tried to find one of his adult children but to no avail. Finally I decided to see if I could find any obituary notices on the web and I finally did. He passed away last summer at the age of 86.

    George was a real character. He could tells stories like nobody's business, all the way back to meeting Civil War veterans on the Gettysburg battlefields on Memorial Day back when he was a teenager in the 1930's. He was also the finest cabinetmaker I have ever known. Meticulous to a fault, he never rushed and didn't care if it took a year to make a piece. It was going to be perfect in every way. He never shipped a thing, and never let me go to his shop to pick it up. He'd drive everything down from his Oxford PA shop even if it was just a single small mirror. Once here, he's stay for a few hours and tell lies and swap stories with me. The last few years he was so hunched over I don't know how he made the trip, or loaded pieces in his car, but he did.

    I have a lot of George's pieces in my house. He's was a cabinentmaker's cabinetmaker - not for everyone because of the prices charged, but for those that are into art of furniture. I had him make me a slant lid desk to my specifications many years ago - it was totally stunning and took a year to build. I brought it into the shop to show off, and a customer just had to have it. I was building a new home and decided to sell it, being cash poor at the time and of course, now I wish I had it!

    Here's a photo (only one I have of him) of George back in his 60's when I first met him. And one of the last pieces I have in the store that show his work. He was the best!
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    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
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