George Raymond Brewer, 91, died peacefully in his sleep on Jan. 7, 2014, in his home in the Carmel Highlands, Calif. He was a resident of Malibu from 1959 until 1985.
George was born in New Albany, Ind. to Alma Holzbog Brewer and John Raymond Brewer on Sept. 10, 1922. He spent his childhood in Jeffersonville, Ind., playing in his grandfather’s wagon manufacturing shop with the wood and metal-working equipment. It was then that George decided to pursue a career in electrical engineering.
After obtaining a bachelor’s degree, he worked at the MIT Radiation Laboratory for a year before volunteering in the U.S. Navy in 1944.
While at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., George met a secretary named Elaine Schmitt. They married in 1945, living in Ann Arbor, Mich. while he obtained master’s degrees in electrical engineering and physics and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering at the University of Michigan.
George joined Hughes Aircraft Company in Culver City in 1951 and bought a house in Palos Verdes in 1952. He entered the field of ion propulsion, eventually transferring to the new Hughes Research Laboratory in Malibu. George and Elaine raised their two daughters, Lynn and Wendy, in Malibu where he enjoyed riding horses. He and Elaine visited Carmel where he took up photography as a hobby. Elaine passed away in 1982.
In 1984, George married Mary Lou Forster. They moved to Carmel where they built their home overlooking the coastline at Point Lobos.
George is the author or co-author of three published technical books, as well as a book on the history of the Carmel Highlands Fire Department, where he served on the Board. In 2013, he published a cookbook, “Cooking with a Touch of Science,” comprised of recipes he had developed over many years of gourmet cooking.
George is survived by Mary Lou, Lynn Merideth (Ken) and Wendy Brewer Lama (Karma); three grandchildren, Katie Austin Miranda, Kevin Austin and Chris Merideth; three great-grandchildren, Cecilia and Talia Bersamin and Ethan Austin Miranda.