George William McCollom—Bill—passed away at his home in Mission Viejo, California on July 7th, 2021. A gentle silence, a lonesome sadness, a longing for one more day. Just one more word, one more touch. The feelings that linger in those you left behind. To each other, we recount the stories of the spectacular life you lived, and while you are not here with us now, we remember that your life was a gift that gave us memories too beautiful to forget!
Bill was born in Lihua, Hawai’i, January 15, 1932. We can still hear him say that flying was really the only thing that he ever wanted to do. He received his pilot training through the School of Hard Knocks and paid for flying lessons—one hour at a time—cleaning and gassing planes at the Honolulu Airport.
In 1954 he was hired by Pan American Airways (PAA), which began an extraordinary journey of life-long friends and far-out places. While his first love was PAA (where he spent the majority of his flying career), during multiple furloughs, he had stints with Aloha, Northeastern Airlines, Civil Air Transport (CAT), and finished with United Airlines. Some notable experiences include secret missions all over the South Pacific. He flew embassy personal out of Baghdad during the 1958 Iraqi Coup and Charles Lindberg from Tokyo to Hong Kong in 1968.
After circling the globe several times over, he retired in 1991 as a 747 Captain out of LAX. In retirement, he built an RV6 airplane in his garage, ran the San Luis Obispo Triathlon three times, and was crowned its oldest participant at the age of 80 in 2012. Throughout his life, he always demonstrated great courage even in the face of very difficult choices. Bill is survived by Barbara, his wife of 60 years, his two daughters Lisa and Michelle; his two sons-in-laws Kenneth and John; and his four grandchildren, Hannah, Kevin, Ethan, and Ashlee. What an amazing life you lived, Dad. Blue sky and tail winds ahead, forever loved!