Edhat StaffThe Honorable George Anthony Bourgeois, 94, of Santa Barbara, California, peacefully passed away June 25, 2018, surrounded by family and friends. Judge Bourgeois was born on September 17, 1923, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to Thomas and Louise Bourgeois, at their home, familiarly known as “the shrine”. George attended Catholic High in Baton Rouge and earned his bachelors and Juris Doctorate degrees at LSU. He was a decorated World War IIveteran where he served as a medic and in 1955 he married Aba Lee Frame. They raised four children, Kathleen, Charles, Jean Rene and Denise. George was a founding member of St. Jude parish in Baton Rouge. He practiced law in Louisiana, including successfully fighting a case for the Louisiana ABC Board at the United States Supreme Court following which he joined Distilled Spirits Institute in Washington DC. He later served several years on the Indian Claims Commission, and then was appointed an Administrative Law Judge of the Social Security Administration in 1980 first in Los Angeles then in the new Santa Barbara office. He loved sailboats and horses, and owned several during his life. After 16 years as a judge, he retired in 1996. During this time, he also studied genealogy and became a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. George, with his beloved Aba Lee, was professed into the Third Order Secular Franciscans community. George has been a resident of Santa Barbara for 36 years and is remembered by all as a man of God, a very devoted husband and father, a kind hearted good humored adventurous friend and a wonderful story teller. He was blessed with the gift faith so strong that all who met him were touched by him.
George is survived by his sister Katherine Burda, three of his children; nine grandchildren (David, Brianne and James Benelli; Michael, Anastasia, Alexandra and Thomas Bourgeois; and Christopher and Bridget Haley) and numerous nieces and nephews. All of whom are charged with the mighty goal of living as George lived, loving as George loved and maintaining the divine light that he brought into this world.
He is preceded in death by, his wife of 46 years Aba Lee; son Jean Rene; and four of his siblings Anna Louise Rauer, Thomas Bourgeois, Janice Bourgeois and Mary Bourgeois.
The family will receive friends at the McDermott Crockett Mortuary chapel on Monday evening July 2nd beginning at 6PM. A rosary will be held at 7PM. The Funeral Mass will be at the Santa Barbara Mission on the Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle, July 3rd at 11AM with Father Larry Gosselin OFM officiating. Interment will be at Greenoaks Memorial Park in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on July 6th 2018. Memorials may be made to the Third Order Secular Franciscans of the province of Santa Barbara. Donations may be made on the website https://sbfransicans.org/get-involved/donate/
Arrangements entrusted to McDermott-Crockett Mortuary
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