Obituary of George Phillip Armitage

George Phillip Armitage Dec 1, 1929 - Nov 29, 2019

George was born to Iva and George Armitage in Chicago, IL.  He worked at the Schwinn Bicycle Company.  This was before OSHA and he almost died from the fumes from the metal plating process!  His family moved to Fox Lake.  They had a house right on the lake, where George liked to fish and even had a boat he sold ice cream out of.  He got a job at Johnson Motors as a polisher.  He also drove for both Black & White and Yellow Cab.  One night, he was robbed.  Right after that is when they installed Plexiglass between the driver and passengers.  He had Jack Benny in his cab.  George was an avid Chicago Cubs fan and played baseball with friends at work.  He also loved to play cards, especially Cribbage.  George was also a good carpenter and finished off rooms in the house.  He also built bird ‘motels’ and made Cribbage boards.  When he retired from Johnson Motors in 1983, George and his wife, Ruth, moved to Brooksville, FL. He was featured there in the local newspaper with the large Chicago Cubs flag he had in his yard.  George and Ruth loved to travel and always brought their dogs with them.  After Ruth died in 2013, George’s daughter Julie brought him back to Illinois where they enjoyed time together.

George was preceded in death by his son Wayne, his parents, two siblings Lee Armitage and Gloria Thorne and two spouses Janice Armitage and Ruth Armitage.

George is survived by his sister, Audrey Simek, daughters, Julie Zeithaml and Cristy Mordawski and nieces and nephews.  

Services will be private for the family.