George B. Van Wagner
George B. Van Wagner, an endearing retired campus safety officer known for his enforcement of campus rules and his service to others, died on Friday, Nov. 11, 2022. He was 85.
George joined Skidmore in 1978 as an officer in Campus Security, as Campus Safety was then known, after retiring as a sergeant from the Saratoga Springs Police Department. At Skidmore, he acquired the nickname “The Hook,” a reference to George’s enforcement of campus parking rules and the tow truck hook that sometimes took away particularly egregious violators. He retired in 1998.
“George believed right is right and that everyone needed to comply with College policies and procedures, and he took his duties and responsibilities to heart. But the students came to respect and like George and would seek him out at Commencement to meet their parents and thank him for all his help during their time at Skidmore,” recalled Safety Systems Administrator Lori Parks. “George regarded everyone he met as a friend and their encounter as an opportunity to help someone out, whether it was to help understand a College policy better or give some insight about Saratoga Springs to a campus visitor.”
“He was also a source of great laughter with his co-workers,” she continued. “He would tell stories about his adventures that had us laughing so hard we’d be crying. He will be greatly missed.”
Born on Dec. 20, 1936, in Saratoga Springs, he married Donna (Bunnell) Van Wagner, who predeceased him.
George is survived by his daughter, Beth White-Hernandez, and her husband, Sonny; “bonus daughter” Kim Mielke; grandchildren Chad (Sarah) White, Tiffany (Sam) Sloan, Jayson (Jane) Richardson, Katie (Tom) Irish, and Jessica Johnson; great-grandchildren Dustin, Bethany, Justice, Lillian, Jenna, Jeffery, Jon, Samantha, Ethan, and Remington; great-great-granddaughter Ivana Lee Bushong; niece Michelle Simpson; nephew Scott Wardell; and many friends.