George Rooney Vaughan

     George Rooney Vaughan, father of seven children and accomplished design engineer, died peacefully on November 6, at Charlestown Senior Living in the company of his loving family. He was 95.

     The third of four children of James and Catherine Vaughan, George was raised on a farm in Lafayette, Indiana. His grandfather had immigrated from Ireland to Indiana in the 1840’s, and George grew up surrounded by a large, extended Vaughan family. He went on to graduate from Purdue University with a degree in Electrical Engineering. His first job following graduation was working for Owens Corning Fiberglass in Columbus, Ohio where he met Eloise Hill. They married within the year.

     During George’s service in the Air Force during the Korean War, he and Eloise moved several times throughout the South. Following his discharge, George was hired by Westinghouse Electric where he worked as a design engineer for the next 40 years. He and Eloise raised their family in Linthicum, Maryland where they remained for 62 years before moving to Charlestown Senior Living in Catonsville.

     At Westinghouse, George began his career during the Cold War when developing communications that could withstand an atomic blast was an imperative. He was awarded five patents for innovative thinking that contributed to land-based, shipboard, airborne and space communication systems. He was especially proud of his contributions to weather satellites.

     Until his death, George, along with his siblings, owned and ran the family soybean farm where he was born. His community activities centered around the activities of his children, as a Little League coach, scout leader, Home and School Association president and swim team official. George took immense pride in the accomplishments of his children and grandchildren and delighted in wearing baseball caps reflecting their educational institutions and jobs. He also found time for regular chess and tennis games, goose hunting trips to the Eastern Shore, and crab feasts. George was a devout Catholic and served as an usher at St. Philip Neri Parish in Linthicum, Maryland for 50 years.

     George was a life-long Purdue football and basketball fan and an avid reader of military history, particularly the Civil War. He took long daily strolls and especially enjoyed walking Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg with his sons at age 90. He was known for his dignified bearing and his dry wit.

     George is survived by six of his seven children, Steven, Susan (Kahn), Julia (Donovan), John, Thomas and Christopher; 12 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his wife of 68 years, Eloise, and son, Gregory.

     Family and friends are invited to gather for a Mass of Christian Burial in memory of George at Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Church, 711 Maiden Choice Lane, Catonsville, MD 21228 (at Charlestown Senior Retirement Center) on Saturday, December 16, 2023, at 11:00 a.m. Family will be receiving visitors beginning at 10:30 a.m.

     In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the 4H Club of Indiana https://extension.purdue.edu/4-H/ or to the Brain Trauma Foundation https://braintrauma.org.