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Birth:          28 Mar 1916 Salem, Mass.
Death:          13 Oct 2009 Marblehead, Mass.

Notes
1920 in Salem, Mass. age 3y10m
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/bostonglobe/obituary.aspx?pid=134691350:
POOR, George Russell 93, died Tuesday, October 13, 2009, at his home in 
Marblehead, Massachusetts. His wife Gladys had just finished reading an EB White 
story to him and daughter Susan played jazz music at his bedside as he departed. 
George was born March 28, 1916, in Salem, Massachusetts, son of Elizabeth Phippen 
Poor and Walter E Poor, founder of Sylvania Lighting Company. He had one brother, 
Arthur Phippen Poor, who died in 1992. A graduate of Noble and Greenough School in 
1933, Harvard College in 1937, and Harvard Law School in 1950, George chose his 
passion for a career and became an accomplished jazz trumpet player. George met his 
wife of 64 years, Gladys Haslett, of Geneva, New York, in 1944 at Jimmy Ryan's jazz 
club on 52nd Street in New York City, famous for its Sunday afternoon jazz sessions. 
They married in March of 1945. A WW II veteran, George served, in 1942, as an 
executive officer on a 110 foot long subchaser doing small-convoy escort duty in the 
Atlantic and Pacific. In 1944, he became executive officer of subchaser PC 1264, 
notable in its time as one of the earliest experiments in race relations, carrying 58 
enlisted men, 50 of whom were African Americans. Subsequently, the book Black 
Company, based on PC 1264, was authored by Lt Commander Eric S. Purdon. 
George's passions were family, music and sailing. He was a true Yachtsman. His 
accomplishments as a sailor and navigator were born of a deep love and respect for 
the beauty and power of the ocean. He always insisted on sailing a boat to its 
maximum efficiency, and demanded precision and obedience from his crew. He started 
sailing before age ten, in Brutal Beasts. As a teenager and through college he 
dominated the New England fleets in S Boats and 30 Square meters. Eventually he 
raced cruising boats. He frequently enlisted family members as crew, along the way 
instilling his passion and skills to his wife Glad and his four daughters. All went on to 
become accomplished sailors and race in their own right. George, Glad and the family 
sailed almost every summer to Cape Cod or Down East Maine, usually on the Eastern 
Yacht Club Cruise. George was a member of the Eastern Yacht Club race committee 
for several years, and in his younger years, was commodore in 1936 of the Pleon 
Yacht Club, Marblehead's junior yacht club. At the time of his death, he was the 
longest standing member of the Eastern Yacht Club having joined in 1937 and was a 
member of the Salem Marine Society since 1942. As a musician George played jazz 
trumpet professionally and had his own band. Although George's primary interest was 
Jazz, he initially studied trumpet under Roger Voisin, first trumpet of the Boston 
Symphony Orchestra. He also studied at Berkley School of Music. He played with 
many jazz greats, including Edmond Hall, Jimmy Rushing, Maxine Sullivan, Jack 
Teagarden, Pee Wee Russell, Bobby Hackett, Dave McKenna and Gray Sargent. It 
wasn't unusual for many of these musicians to stop by the Poor's home in Marblehead 
after their gigs, to jam into the wee morning hours, as the sun rose over Marblehead 
Harbor. George was an ardent follower of Louis Armstrong, Bunny Berrigan, and Duke 
Ellington among others. He had an extensive record collection comprised of hundreds 
of albums" and he knew every one of them", says Glad. For over fifty years, in harbors 
and coves up and down the New England Coast, yachtsmen would often hear the rich 
and haunting tones of George's lone trumpet as he drenched the night air with his 
music. Fellow yachtsmen fondly recount "We will never forget the beauty of George's 
music and heart as they spoke to us." George is survived by his wife Gladys, his 
daughters Jean E.P. Burden and her husband Ordway Burden of New York City, Sally 
Beck, and her husband Carl Beck of Belgrade, Maine, and Susan Poor and her 
husband Jeffrey Dingle of Marblehead, his grandchildren, Autumn, Nyla, Steven, 
Phoebe, Liza, Clare, and Jeremy, and his great-grandchildren Julian, Michael, William, 
Bella and Francis. He was predeceased by his daughter Geraldine, who died in 1999. 
A Memorial Service will be held at the Old North Church, 35 Washington Street, 
Marblehead, on Friday at 11:00am. Relatives and friends respectfully invited. In lieu of 
flowers, donations may be made to the Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson's 
Research, Church Street Station, P.O. Box 780, New York, NY 10008 or the Pleon 
Yacht Club, P.O. Box, 160, Marblehead, MA 01945. Arrangements by the Eustis 
Cornell Funeral Home, MARBLEHEAD Please visit the online guestbook for George at 
www.mem.com 
George Russell Poor entry in Harvard University Class of 1937 Fortieth Anniversary 
Report

Parents
POOR Walter Everett (23 Nov 1885 - 4 Apr 1950)
PHIPPEN Elizabeth Russell (30 Apr 1884 - ABT 1960)

Siblings
POOR George Russell (28 Mar 1916 - 13 Oct 2009)
POOR Arthur Phippen (2 Mar 1919 - 13 Apr 1992)

Marriage To HASLETT Gladys (5 Dec 1921 - 3 Mar 2012)
    m. 27 Mar 1945 

Notes

Parents
HASLETT Charles ()
----- Helen P. ()

Children by HASLETT Gladys 5 Dec 1921 - 3 Mar 2012
POOR Jean Elizabeth ()
POOR Geraldine Haslett (18 Oct 1947 - 6 Nov 1999)
POOR Sally Gladys ()
POOR Susan A. ()

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