George A. Woodworth, Jr.

Cambridge-George A. Woodworth Jr., 67, of Cambridge, passed away peacefully into the arms of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on Monday, October 18, 2021. He was lovingly surrounded by his family following a very brief battle with leukemia. George was born on June 30, 1954 at Mary McClellan Hospital in Cambridge. He was a graduate of Cambridge Central School, Adirondack Community College and SUNY Buffalo State. He was a long-time employee at Peckham Industries’ William E. Dailey Incorporated where coworkers affectionately knew him as “The Concrete Genius,” “The Institution,” and “The Legend.” Throughout his life, George enjoyed rooting for his favorite sports teams, especially the Cambridge Indians football teams. He loved spending time golfing and hunting. In years past you could find him running field trials with his well-trained Beagles and was an active member at the Pittstown Beagle Club in Shaftsbury, Vermont. Among other talents he was a terrific craftsman and could often be found “puttering” in his custom-built carpentry shop. George has been described by family, friends, colleagues, and acquaintances as one of the good guys that everyone was truly honored to have known. Above all of this, his greatest pleasures in life came from spending time with his family.

He was not only a loyal husband of thirty years to his wife, Bonnie Woodworth (Watkins) and a dedicated father to his three children, he also was absolutely adored by his ten beautiful grandchildren who will greatly miss their Poppie’s warm and tender hugs. He never hid the pure joy he felt by being with them and he made sure they all knew how much he loved them.

George is survived by his wife, Bonnie L. (Watkins) Woodworth; his children: Josh “Woody” Woodworth and his wife Stephanie; Katie (Woodworth) Liberatore and her husband Daniel of Pittsford; Jamie (Woodworth) Hertz and her husband Brandon of Irondequoit and his ten grandchildren, Nathaniel, Jocelyn, Alexciyah, and Kyia Woodworth, Alexander Liberatore, Ethan and Sophia Belluomo and Jacob, Aubrey, and Lilly Hertz and his sister, Martha (Woodworth) Bates.

George was preceded in death by his father, George A. Woodworth, Sr., his mother, Helen “Betty” E. (Stafford) Woodworth, and his brother, James H. Woodworth.

To honor of George’s humble nature, a private graveside service will be held for immediate family only.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Cambridge Valley Rescue Squad, 37 Gilbert St., Cambridge, NY  12816 or the Cambridge Volunteer Fire Department, P.O. Box 554, Cambridge, NY  12816 in honor of George’s family members both past and present who have served as emergency responders.

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Thanking George Woodworth
by Dave Thornton 

I was saddened by the recent early passing of George Woodworth Jr., a former student at CCS. George played a substantial role in the building of the permanent honor rolls in Memorial Park on Main St. in Cambridge, and I’m not sure I ever thanked him. 

When we amateur monument builders started that project, we desperately needed and received assistance from the community. The way George figured into it was that he was employed by Bill Dailey at his concrete cement works a little way over the line in Vermont. We had big plans and little money. 

On the other hand, Bill Dailey was a resident of Old Cambridge, a WW II Veteran, a member of Post #634, the American Legion, and headed a cement supply company for construction in our area. I knew he had allowed his crews to drop off tailings from pours, helping the Legion make a number of small installations, but we needed big help.

 I took a chance one morning and went to Bill’s house at the south end of Hedges Lake.  He allowed me to interrupt his breakfast and outline what we, the COMPHROC committee, were trying to do. We planned to buy and mount bronze plaques big enough to display the names of all local Veterans who served honorably in the Nation’s wars. We wanted to mount the names of Veterans from WW II, Korea and Vietnam on two huge walls, so big that were they cut from marble or granite they would be too expensive for us to finance. 

I asked Bill if he would help us with that. His response was to invite me to his concrete works to discuss it with his crew.  I went there with Ray Bates, who along with Bob Bescanceny, had done the planning of the foundations for the wall. Bill took us upstairs to the work station of one of his designers, who turned out to be the Old Cambridge boy George Woodworth Jr. Dailey approved the design and construction of the two walls we needed, at no cost to us, and assigned George to command the project. Work began at once.

Bill gave me the run of the place, so I made a minor nuisance of myself, driving back and forth to the cement plant, asking questions and getting explanations as George’s crew laid out in the middle of the huge shop forms for the walls. I watched as the rebar was installed, watched the placement of the decorative natural stone, watched the pouring of the cement. 

One day as I wandered the plant grounds, I came upon a pile of concrete rubble out back. As I looked, it occurred to me that the pile of rubble had been our walls. I went up to George’s aerie, on the way noticing new rebar in the wall forms.  What’s going on, George? I asked. He put down his caliper and swiveled his chair toward me, and said, “If Bill Dailey’s name is going on those walls, they must be perfect.”

And they were.  And thanks to the diligence and care of George Woodworth they will remain so for many years.

The citizens of Cambridge owe a great deal to those on the COMPHROC committee, as well as to the many others who helped make the project such a success.  Not the least of them was the late George Woodworth.