ELK GROVE, CA (MPG) - For George B. Garza Jr., service did not end when he left the U.S. Air Force. It became the foundation of how he lived every day.

Garza, a longtime Elk Grove resident, Vietnam-era veteran and devoted family man, recently passed away at 83 years old due to natural causes while traveling in Mexico. He was laid to rest July 1 beside his late wife, Dorothy Garza, at Sacramento Valley National Cemetery in Dixon with the wedding bands they exchanged decades ago.

“My dad was a very, very proud American” said his daughter, Paula Clark. “He was proud to serve in the Air Force, and he carried that same sense of service throughout his entire life.”

Garza entered the U.S. Air Force on Aug. 30, 1962, and served four years as an Airman First Class. He was primarily stationed at Travis Air Force Base in Solano County, though Clark said he also spent a significant amount of time serving in Japan.

 

George B. Garza Jr. is pictured in his U.S. Air Force flight suit aboard a C-130E Hercules cargo aircraft in 1963.

According to Clark, her father remained close with many of the men he served alongside long after his military service ended. His commitment to fellow veterans continued for decades through volunteer work with the Department of Veterans Affairs and participation in Wreaths Across America, where Garza helped to place wreaths on the graves of fallen service members each December.

Outside of the military, Garza became a familiar face throughout Elk Grove through his community involvement. He coached seventh- and eighth-grade basketball at Joseph Kerr Middle School, served on the PTA board while Clark attended Elk Grove High School (Class of 1990) and volunteered alongside his wife with the Elk Grove High School Band Boosters. He would also often participate in the city’s Western Festival with his blue Chevrolet Super Sport Roadster, Clark said, and took part in local 3K runs for charity such as Running for Rhett.

After retiring from his career at Aerojet General Corp., a Sacramento-based aerospace company, Garza would remain active by helping friends, neighbors and family members with home repairs, rides to medical appointments and whatever else they needed.

“If somebody needed help, he helped them,” Clark said. “If someone couldn’t pay for their groceries, he’d quietly take care of it. That’s just who he was.”

 

A portrait depicts George B. Garza Jr., left, and his wife Dorothy Garza. 

Garza cherished spending time at local restaurants, including the Super Taco on Elk Grove Florin Road, where he was well known by the manager and the staff. He was also a regular at Original Mikes Diner and Sky Port Restaurant, places where Clark said her father was always greeted with warmth and respect.

“He would stop and talk with anybody. People thanked him for his service, and he always took the time to have a conversation,” she said.

Garza also loved to travel, Clark added, having visited World War II memorials throughout Europe as one of his passion projects in life and making friends wherever he went.

“He just connected with people,” she said. “That’s what I’ll always remember.”

Following Garza’s passing, friends, fellow veterans and neighbors reached out to offer condolences and assistance.

Clark expressed her gratitude to the community after an article published in the June 26 issue of the Elk Grove Citizen brought attention to the family’s efforts to fulfill her parents’ final wish of being buried together with their wedding bands. She had previously shared that an estate-related banking issue had prevented the family from accessing the rings in time for the funeral.

After the story was published, it helped to spread the word and had community members reaching out in support, ultimately leading the bank to reach an agreement to release the wedding bands on June 26, before Garza’s burial, according to Clark.

“They’ve just been so kind,” Clark said of the community’s support.

Clark hopes those who knew her father remember him not only for his military service but for the compassion he showed every day.

“I want people to remember that he loved his family, that he loved helping others and that he was simply a good person,” she said. “That’s the legacy he leaves behind.”

 

George B. Garza Jr. pictured on July 14, 1963, standing beside a Republic F-105 Thunderchief.