BirdCapeMay.org

I met George when I first attended a CMBO guided bird walk in my early high school days. It was a boring Saturday in January, and I was curious to see what "bird watching" was all about so I borrowed my Grandfather's strapless military glasses and got a ride to the raised covered platform at the Cape May Point State Park. George Myers toted his scope with a let's-get-some-birds serious look on his face, yet with a friendly smile appearing periodically to assure others that he was there to have fun. The one event during that cold walk around the point that would seal my fate as a birder was when George set his scope on a perched Cedar Waxwing. He urged everyone in the group to get a good look at the bird through his scope, and since I could not find the bird with the bins I had I jumped to the scope as soon as it was free. This bird was so beautiful and different than the others I previously had seen (like the ones coming to my grandmother's feeders) that, along with the fact that the image through the scope was so much better than my grandpa's bins, I was dying to see what else there was to discover in the avian world. Yes, when I sit down and contemplate it, I probably would not be a birder today if it wasn't for George's Swarovski scope that so inspired an interest in birds and their world that developed into the passionate obsession it is for me today.

Later, as I continued more and more frequently to attend those CMBO walks, building my life list as well as my knowledge on avian natural history, George was one of my greatest mentors, faithfully volunteering and gladly allowing me to pick his brain. No matter how skilled and knowledgeable a birder I may become, I really hope to become a great, humble and friendly person like George, willing to constantly share my knowledge and enthusiasm with others, especially beginners in hopes that I too might draw people to the "light side of the force" (as Pete Dunne would say). He helped mold and shape me into the birder I am today, and for that I am forever grateful for this wonderful man's life and like everyone who knew him I will miss him dearly.

Steve Rodan
CMBO Volunteer

Hi,

You don’t know me but I feel like I know you very well!! You see George was my big brother!

I love and miss him so much.

I am really glad he was well liked and cared about so much.

I am not handling his death too well but reading “Our Tribute to Him, His Tribute to Us” makes it a little easier to deal with!

Right now I am fighting back the tears to write this………too late!!! Here I go again!!!

I would like to get down there some day and take a walk to see what my brother loved so much!!

I went out and bought a hummingbird feeder in his honor for the backyard. I saw a hummingbird the other day in the yard. I took it as a sign that he was around me that day!

Again, thanks for being my bro’s friends and caring about him! You will forever be in my heart!!

Thank you all,
Bob Myers

I was surprised we were friends. Me, so gregarious, he so shy and quiet. I was the lucky one that he included me in his list of friends.

There are many words that applied to George. Always an open heart, unpretentious, caring, quiet, self-assured with his keen ear. Always eager to share his knowledge. George was laid-back for sure! He loved to tease me. I was looking forward to seeing my friend this week [when] I come down...looking forward to see[ing] him as well as my birds.

I will come down, but his open smile will not greet me, not that big hug we always shared. Instead I will have to rely on his presence to comfort me.

I will mostly miss that shy smile that drew you in, you couldn't help yourself, everyone who knew George succumbed.

One spot will remain in my heart, saved just for him.

GOOD BYE, GEORGE!!!!!
With Much Love, I will miss you terribly.

Your PA Friend,
Barb Hiebsch

I was so sad to hear about George. I was the monarch tech for the 2001 season and I met George that year. I don't think I have ever met a more gentle soul. Although, even then, you could tell from his physical appearance he had some health issues, his spirit never belied that truth. He was always so positive and so sweet that you could not help but smile in his presence. Cape May will not be the same without him, but the memory of his spirit will always be with us.

Chris Kisiel

While I could list a million and one things that I will miss about George, the one part of our relationship that I’ll probably never get over missing were his visits to the Northwood Center (especially in winter).  There is always so much to be done here but I always made time to visit with George.  After writing in his morning’s sightings he would come in to my office and we'd chat about anything and pretty much everything under the sun.  Often the topic was birds, or our fabled "Birder's of Cape May" book.  There was always a lot of laughing and sometimes just general nonsense and tom foolery, which he was very good at.  Birding is always such a social event here in Cape May, but sometimes very superficially such that, you only get to know people to a small percentage of the depth they truly hold.  It was in fact, through these conversations that I feel I got to know George the best.

I always found myself looking forward to the time that George would stop by for a chat, not just to give me a break from the monotony but because I truly enjoyed his presence.  After about 10:30 am (when he had to be to Freda's) I found my day was often a little less bright if he had not stopped by.  I think it will be a long time coming that on a winter day here in Cape May, I don't look out the front windows anticipating his arrival!

Georgie, I'm glad to have known you and feel my life is all the more enriched by having been able to call you my friend.

Jason Guerard

[I’m going to take the liberty of paraphrasing some of the words of Nancy Woods, below, one of the first female poet laureates; she is a Native American. - P. Rourke]

George knew the Earth:

“To know the Earth on a first-name basis
You must know the meaning of river stones first.
Find a place that calls to you and there
Lie face down in the grass until you feel
Each plant alive with the mystery of beginnings
Move in a circle until you discover an insect
Crawling with knowledge in its heart
Examine a newborn leaf and find a map of a universe
So vast that only Eagles understand.
Observe the journey of an ant and imitate its path
Of persistence in a world of bigger things
Borrow a cloud and drift high above the Earth,
Looking down at the…scale of life

George’s journey began on a path made of exploration into that Earth. His journey continues; Earth calls him by name.

Perhaps, he heard the owl call his name.

George’s World is the inner world of harmony.

"Where you can go anytime your spirit aches for company
Here you can listen to the songs of rocks and leaves and
Embrace the wisdom of rivers and essential things contained in
Raindrops or a flower's belly or the earth's warm breath of spring

In George’s world, beauty is companion to mystery.

"It is one of joy and curiosity
A connecting thread to birds and oceans, plants and animals

…the essence that remains long after the experience has passed on.

In George’s world, all circles return.

"It is where you can travel
On the wings of dreams or the tails of newborn stars
This world is revealed though a rainbow's colored eyes,
Or in a spider's silver road between two leaves,
Or even in silence, the kind that follows ecstasy."

George’s world offers meaning to existence.

George sought and found harmony with the earth.

Walk in Beauty, George!

Bob and I bid you fond adieu. Fare Well!
Your friend, Patty

George was such a great person. I remember so fondly the times when he came to the seawatch when I was counting there. He always came with that kind smile, calming presence and was willing to share his insightful observations. There were times I felt that he came just to help revive what otherwise would have been a cold and lonely day for me. I always looked forward to seeing him, both when I lived in Cape May and each time I returned. Please know that my thoughts are with everyone at CMBO and the Cape May birding community.

With a heavy heart,
Chris Wood

When I first started working on the website George (who was a programmer and web specialist) was one of my biggest supporters - offering advice and encouragement.  Many of his images lend to the beauty of this site and often to the Young Birder's Photo Quiz.  Therefore it is only fitting that this page (including the header) is composed of images that George took of what he loved most - the natural world!

I will feel his absence on the winter weekend days that only the brave dare go out and explore in.  George would stop in at the Northwood Center to visit, write down his sightings, tell stories while warming up with a cup of coffee, and reminisce on the antics that he and Jason conjured up on the hawkwatch platform.  This year when the light grows short I will remember to bundle up and head outside when the rest of the world seems to be scarce and take a deep breath of the fresh, crisp ocean air and take a walk with my friend Georgie.

Laura Guerard

George and I met about 10 years ago and became fast Saturday friends, as I am a Pennsylvanian and only visited bird heaven on the weekends. George was the first person who went out of his way to say, "Hi" to me and make sure I felt welcome on the walks or up on the platform.

We spent Saturdays together for several years walking all over the beaches and fields of South Jersey, looking at birds, butterflies, dragonflies, and once upon a warm early spring day, a great writhing ball of garter snakes just off the boardwalk on the yellow trail. We talked about our families, his love of cats and my love of dogs. We often laughed together and joked with each other about which one of us was older. He said it had to be me because I have gray hair, but it was actually him by a little over two months. I can't believe that now, I'll always be older. Life just is not fair, but I never once heard George say that. That very kind, gentle man never complained during our long Saturday walks looking for "Holy Moley" birds.

George was special. Did you know that he loved burnt cookies? George was a kind, loving, good and true friend. He was my friend even though we had fallen out of touch over the past couple of years. I loved him, and I really believe he knew that. I feel so lucky to have known him and honored to be able to call him my friend.

Marianne Phillips
Green Lane, Pennsylvania

A delightfully subtle sense of humor, an inquiring mind, a compelling smile, the most pleasant of companions for a walk in the woods. That was George.

Jim Armstrong

[George] began volunteering at CMBO in Goshen and was the Main Man in the CMBO Gardens in Goshen, helping Karen Williams to plant the very first garden, the front bed in front of the building. I'll never forget that day. He was so looking forward to it. Karen appeared with lots of pots of tiny sprigs (plants she'd grown from seed or cuttings). George couldn't contain himself and asked, where are the garden plants we're going to plant? Karen laughed and said, "George, just you wait!" He'd expected to plant huge, blooming flowers, so there'd be an instant garden. Well, George did patiently wait and the fruits of his labor that day flourished and became (within a month) a lovely garden of full-sized flowering gems that immediately drew in butterflies, hummingbirds, hummingbird moths, bees, spiders, preying mantises, and tons more! George was instantly hooked.

That day was the beginning of George's gardening efforts and he went on to create one of the most lovely shade gardens in Cape May County, a garden that he & Chris Baker shared. In under huge oaks George's well-placed mister, pond, and waterfall (nestled into a wall of vegetation) attracted 29 species of warblers (including one spring day with no less hen 17 warbler species, including Hooded, Cerulean, Blackburnian, Nashville . . .). He'd tallied 141 species of birds in that yard (including a wintering Dickcissel 2005-2006), 26 species of butterflies, and 8 species of dragonflies. He created the ultimate backyard habitat in a teensy-tiny 150' X 100' yard.

A reader of books, magazines, and papers, he loved to learn about birds and all things natural.

Volunteer extraordinaire, George volunteered for CMBO since 1997 -- initially from afar (journeying down from his parents' home in Turnersville, NJ) for the first few years, until he made the big move and moved to his beloved Cape May County. Early on he attended so many field trips and walks that I began to count on him and asked him to serve as an Associate Naturalist, a role he took seriously and comfortably grew into. He was quiet and shy at first, but so incredibly knowledgeable from all his reading and correspondence attendance in Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Ornithology Course. Eventually he realized that he had so much to share and in recent years one would never know he'd ever been quiet and shy.

A gentle, caring, giving friend. Love you, George!!!!!!

With a heavy heart,
Pat Sutton

The only thing that has comforted me is knowing that now George is part of all living things that he loved.

I remember how he came to my studio for drawing lessons, and if he hadn't been more interested in being a naturalist he could have been a serious artist. But he always brought his binoculars with him when we went out in the field to draw, and stopped drawing to look at the birds that passed by!

He was a truly gentle person.

Margaret Heuges

Several years back, one day when George and I were birding, I asked him what he would most like to be able to do, and he said without hesitation, "Fly like a bird." So now, when I am birding at one of George's favorite places, such as Higbee or Villas, I look up and feel George's presence, and know that he is enjoying the birds as much as I do.

George and I birded together for about ten years, and I was deeply impressed at how he was able to progress in a relatively short span of years to such a high level of expertise, surpassing nearly all of us who live and bird in Cape May.

With fond memories, George, you were an inspiration to me,
Steve Weis

George - like the very special people in Cape May - has touched my life.  He's opened up a very new world to me;
I remember all my Cape May weekends and George was a part of them all.  My birding beginnings (so to speak).

I will always remember him,
Toni Canzoneri

We remember when we met George for the first time as he was birding the "Meadows" and we got him his first Bonaparte's Gull. In those days, before the Villas home, he stayed with us when he came to Cape May, which continued for several years. We got to know him well and he will be sorely missed. He came a long way since then, becoming an excellent field birder, really good at IDing by ear, and great with people as a leader.

Karl & Judy Lukens

The world will never be the same because of the beautiful difference one life has made.  In loving memory of someone very special...
Marleen & Sheila

I give you this one thought to keep,
I am with you still - I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am the swift, uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
So, do not think of me as gone -
I am with you still - with each new dawn.
- Author Unknown

My Brother

George was a lot of things to me…

He was a good person, a mentor, a good friend, and most of all a great older brother!

I just wanted to share some of my memories of him with you, his other family at CMBO!

We spent almost 18 years or so in the same bedroom together growing up, of course he was the neat and organized one and I was the wild and unorganized one. Some say we were like the odd couple!

I remember one night when we were young George woke up screaming at the top of his lungs!!! I mean really loud!! So I started screaming too, because if my big brother was screaming there must be a good reason!!

We used to play football games together. You know the electric ones where the field used to vibrate and the guys would juts dance around in circles!!!

We would get together and watch the Eagles on Sundays when we both moved out of our parent’s house. We would meet at his house one week and mine the next. That was the best!!

Then he moved down the shore to Cape May. That was a little far to get together every weekend for football! We grew a little distant.

We would see each other at holidays and birthdays but not like the old days.

We would chat on-line once in awhile and talk on the phone but that’s nothing compared to face to face meetings. So if you get the chance to be with your family, for God’s sake be with them! I didn’t even…

I can’t say this without crying!! I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye!!!

OK, I’m OK now…I think!

Now that I think back to the way he was neat, organized and caring, I can see now that I am older I have a lot of those traits!!

So Thank You Bro!!!!!
I LOVE AND MISS YOU SO MUCH!!!!
Your Little Brother Bob

Hi,

George is my love and always will be. He was the person who showed me the beautiful things, and shared the bad things. When I first met him at CMBO ten years ago, I wondered, “Who is that high school kid working in the garden?” I soon realized that he was a 40 year old man, not an 18 year old boy. He used to joke that the first thing I made him do was to fill the bird feeders in the pouring rain. He was thin and innocent and shy and sweet, and I had no choice but to be his friend.

In the years before he came to CMBO, when he was well enough, there was nothing that bored him, except being stuck in the house, away from nature. His mother and father supported his interests through the years of pain and sickness, and gave him the love of life that he passed on to others. His family is close, his Mom, Betty, his Dad, George, his brother Bobbie, his sisters Kathy and Jen, and his nieces and nephews. They gave him the love and support, and the fun that brought him through tough times; a family that loves to laugh and enjoys what is here to enjoy, and hold each other up through the bad times.

The world was beautiful and fascinating to George. He kept and bred tropical fish. He made collections of fossils, minerals, leaves, feathers, shells, and books. He studied and learned about everything he found interesting. He has books and journals covering years of his work and study.

When we knew each other better I asked if he would come and share my home so that he didn’t have to commute three hours when he wanted to be in Cape May. He brought with him all of his treasures. I was amazed at his precious collections. I was amazed at his dedication to learning as fast as he could, as though he knew he would have only a short time to savor life. I would often hear bird calls repeating over and over from his room until he knew the sounds of every bird he loved. I couldn’t keep up with him – I don’t know who could have. But I watched him, and loved him, and let him know how special he was, how talented and amazing, how much I loved him, and slowly he began to believe it, and was so proud of his skill, of himself, of his contribution to the enjoyment of nature he sparked in everyone he met. He was never too good or puffed up to share the wonder of things with others.

In the beginning we would walk around the field at CMBO and try to find birds to identify by sight or sound. It was so much fun because we were both relatively new birders. He had learned much from books and classes he had access to from his home, where he spent his sick times, but he had little chance to bird out in the field. I have books full of his sightings, in the early days with some slightly questionable entries, but getting better as fast as he could absorb everything he could get his hands and ears on. He learned from the best naturalists in their fields, and they were amazed how quickly he learned what takes most people years to learn. His expertise quickly outstripped mine and he became my teacher.

He would leave the house before 7 am to be birding before dawn. I would barely have an eye open, but he would bird, then work all day, and come home to tell me about his adventures. Everyone who spent time with George loved him. He worked at Freda’s Café making sandwiches in the deli and helping prepare for dinner. He did the job he could with his health issues, with the same dedication and skill that he brought to everything he did. He found a new family at Freda’s with Steve and Carol and their children. He would often play with Marcus and Samantha with the same delight as the kids, whom he loved. And the jokes and fun were never in short supply with Steve and Carol and the rest of the staff. He loved them and they loved him.

We went through so much together over only seven years (how I wish it was more). I anxiously watched over and cared for him when he was ill and I feared when I saw him suffer. Someone that beautiful shouldn’t bear that kind of pain, but he never complained. He comforted me and stood by me through my illness. My greatest sadness is that I couldn’t share his passion with him for the last two years. My illness kept me in the house, but George would come home and tell me about each wonder that he encountered that day.

When we learned about his final illness we were both afraid, but kept going with the same love and strength we had shared through so many trials. We hoped the treatments would give George more time, if not a cure, and we faced the pain and fear together. The night he became ill I lost all sense – I didn’t know what to do to save him and felt useless and terrified knowing that there was nothing I could do. Even then we thought he would pull through this trial as he had weathered so many others. I held his hand and watched him slip away for his next adventure, wishing I could somehow pull him back, just for a while, just one more word or hug or kiss.

We laughed and cried and loved each other more than anyone could possibly know. His absence is a pain that at times I am sure I can’t survive. Nothing in my life has ever hurt like the absence of my best friend.

George’s friends scooped me up in their caring arms and help me celebrate the life of the most amazing man I have ever known. The world mourns his loss. I can’t believe he is gone. I know that his spirit, his essence has gone ahead to find a new adventure to love as much as he loved this one, and I will see him there when the time is right.

George, I love you so.

Chris Baker

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The photos in the header all by George Myers © TanagerWebDesign.com.
Photo Credits:  Mark Garland, Kevin Karlson, Karl Lukens, George Myers, Marleen Murgitroyde, Patty Rourke, Pat Sutton, Louise Zemaitis.