Birth date: Apr 2, 1922 Death date: Mar 31, 2013
George Vance Mitchell, 90, of Purcellville, VA, passed away Sunday, March 31, 2013 at his residence. He was born in Vallejo, CA to the late Burton Mitchell and Nellie Francis Mitchell. In addition to his parents, he was preceded Read Obituary
In loving memory of our dear friend, law enforcement associate and neighbor, George V. Mitchell, a great and marvelous gentleman with many professional skills and experiences. We miss you dearly and extend our prayers and love to his daughters Carolyn and Elaine and his ex-wife Helen and friends. May you rest in peace and know that you are in our thoughts, prayers and memories.
Often we would meet for coffee or lunch when you were employed at the Santa Cruz General Hospital and share our hopes, daily news reactions and past stories. We respected you dearly for your dedicated and meritorious service to the citizens of California while in the CHP and continued friendship with the FBI and Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office deputies. A long and lasting friendship developed between the Santa Cruz Resident Office of the FBI with Senior RA Patrick Joseph Haggerty, Jr. and Special Agent Joseph A. Dushek of the San Francisco Division. You also befriended SA Neal Heusil who worked alongside of us but resigned from the FBI and became a Federal prosecutor in New Orleans after earning his law degree commuting back and forth to San Jose from Santa Cruz.
You became friends with SA James E. Farmer and his wife Helen and family in the 1970's and often assisted the FBI in investigations, potential arrest situations and in local daily interactions. Jim retired from the FBI in 1976 and moved his family to Las Vegas, Nevada. Jim passed away there on July 29, 1997 at age 88 and often spoke about you with SA Dushek, who was assigned there in 1980 until retiring in 2001 with 35 years service with the FBI. Thank you for painting our residence in Santa Cruz for DeAnn and Joseph and our children, JoDee and Rob before we were transferred to Cleveland, Ohio. My career was greatly magnified and I went on to become a firearms instructor, SWAT team leader, bank robbery coordinator and finally a Supervisory Special Agent of the Violent Crimes and Major Offenders Section in the Las Vegas division from 1980 to 2001. We rappelled over Hoover Dam for training in 1997. FBI Director Louis Freeh requested that my career be extended two years beyond mandatory retirement age. I am very greatful for this opportunity. I later worked as the Chief of Security for the Las Vegas LDS Temple from 2005 to 2007 for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We are still very active and serve others there often and enjoy life with our seven children in Portland, Sacramento, Denver and in Texas.
Mitch, you were a great mentor and teacher, with your very gifted carpentry and cabinet making skills and taught us how to paint, refurbish and make our homes more elegant. On one occasion when you were spray painting our second story exterior you did not see the roof ending and I silently warned you of the falling danger. You later said I saved your life or from a very serious fall and injury. With gratitude we paid you for your wonderful job and you later tore the check up donating your services for our deep friendship. How proud we were of our new and clean look near the UCSC campus on Segre Place and for our former U.S. Marine Corp. friend. We both lived nearby to our church, the United Church of Christ, UCC and across the street from our dear friends Bob and Charlotte Russell, who you also helped.
We enjoyed your visit to Las Vegas when you moved to Clovis and hoped you might relocate here if you could bear the heat. What great talks and stories we had even about when you were wounded, thrown over an embankment while on duty with the CHP and wounded. You were a very disciplined, strong willed and completely dedicated individual both with the CHP and in everyday life. You always will be highly respected, remembered and charished as a friend and cohort forever.
On February 6, 2014, last week, Pat Haggerty passed away at his home in LaJolla, California near San Diego. He had just celebrated his 89 th birthday and had retired there in 1975.
