Obituary of George R. Deller

I regret to inform the Virgin Islands Community of the passing of George Deller who left our earth peacefully in his sleep on March 6, 2018. He was a loving husband and mentor to many Virgin Islanders for over 40 years. George was an educator who taught Math for 2 years on Long Island, New York. He then relocated to St. Thomas Virgin Island where he taught Math for 36 years before retiring in 2011. He was born on August 24, 1950 in Amityville, New York (to use his own words he was the original “Amityville Horror”) to parents Gertrude Elizabeth Simpson Deller and William Gunner Deller of Lindenhurst, New York who preceded him in death. He was an avid Beatles fan and very proud of having “taught half the population of St. Thomas”. George leaves behind his wife and best friend since 1978 Gayle Deller. Other relatives: brother and sister in law William and Linda Deller of Melbourne, Florida; father and mother in law Edward and Priscilla Krukonis of Prides Crossing, Massachusetts; niece Sandy McLoughlin and family – Mike, Chris and Ali McLoughlin of Melbourne, Florida; nephew Mike Deller and family – Mandy, Zhenya, Jeremy, and Justin Deller of Rock Hill, South Carolina; sister in law and families – Debbi Krukonis and Vincent Peloso of Fortuna, California; Amy Krukonis and Darryl Miller and Michael, Isaiah, and Rebekah of Venice, Florida; brothers in law Edward Krukonis Jr. and family – Judy Freeman, Christopher, Samantha, and Nicholas Krukonis of Prides Crossing, Massachusetts; Jeffrey Krukonis and Julia Greene South Hampton, New Hampshire; Eric Krukonis and family – Susan Murray, Josh and Ben Krukonis of Ann Arbor, Michigan. George moved to St. Thomas in December of 1976 to teach junior high math and reading at Nazareth Bay School which hosted junior high in the morning and senior high in the afternoon. In 1980 when BCB Junior High was completed George went to Bovoni with the rest of the junior high staff. In addition to his teaching and Guidance Counseling, he was an active sports person. He refereed the lunch league basketball games every day, coached the cross country, baseball and softball teams. He refereed and umpired in the School leagues and ran the Ruby Rutnik Memorial Softball Tournament on St. John from its inception. He was also involved with the BCB Steel Band during the Carnival Parades. George also played in the Sentill Softball League for many years with the Heavies and Coasters. He played with Education in the Government Industrial League. He was one of the top ten hitters on the island during his prime time and passed his skills on to his students – some who are now playing on Major League Baseball teams. There will be a celebration of George’s life at Magen’s Bay Shed #4 on Sunday, June 24, 2018. A service will begin at noon and his ashes will be scattered at the beach as per his request. For more information TEXT Gayle at 643-6319.