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!
Duane Collie
Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
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