George M. Dreitlein

GEORGE M. DREITLEIN, 85, of Little Falls died on October 3, 2022.

Born on June 2, 1937 in Brooklyn, New York.

Husband of Ina for 63 years and father of Jeffrey, Christopher, Timothy and the late Thomas, grandfather to Shannon, Eric and Audrey.

George spent his early childhood in West Paterson, now Woodland Park, when there were still lots of woods and open fields on top of “Nanny Goat Hill” , the west side of Garret Mountain. He spent many happy hours, fishing, hiking and camping in the summer and ice skating and sledding in the winter.

He graduated Saint Bonaventure’s High School in Paterson in 1955 and then attended Seton Hall University in South Orange where he received his bachelor’s degree in Education in 1960. George attended school during the day and worked the night shift as a gyroscope calibrator in Kearfott Company in West Paterson. At this time, he met the lovely Ina Carberry who became his wife in January 1960. While in Seton Hall, he elected to complete ROTC training. He became on officer in the US Army Corps of Engineers in July 1960 and was stationed at Fort Belvoir, Virginia where he trained as a combat engineer. His new wife, Ina, went with him. Their first son, Jeffrey, was born there. George was assigned permanently to Fort Belvoir and was made company commander. He trained combat engineers in general military subjects. In addition, he served as battalion payroll officer and defense counsel at courts martial. Also, at this time Lieutenant Dreitlein greatly enjoyed flying the H 13 Sioux helicopter (of television series M*A*S*H fame). In his free time, he gave boxing lessons to soldiers at the Fort Belvoir gym. One of his men went on to become division champion.

George completed his US Army tour of duty in 1962 and began teaching science at Pompton Lakes High School, a career which he greatly enjoyed that lasted 37 years, He would say, “I love working with the kids. I pop out of bed every morning looking forward to going to work.” In 1968 he received his masters degree in Natural History from William Paterson College and was appointed High School Science Department Chairman. He then earned his supervisor’s certificate from Montclair State College and became Pompton Lakes district Science Supervisor. He loved his job because it brought him in contact with elementary school teachers as well as middle and high school teachers. He taught many in-service classes for teachers after school hours. He also taught a well-received class on teaching Botany on the high school level at the New Jersey Science Convention. All through his career he continued to teach four science classes a day at the high school level with the kids, the work he loved best.

George was a life member of the New Jersey Education Association and the Passaic County Teachers Association and a member of the Little Falls American Legion Post 121, the Little Falls alliance for a Better community, the Passaic county Medical Reserve Corps, the National Rifle Association and the Rockland Astronomy Club. Her served as the treasurer of the New Jersey Science Education Leadership Associations Bioethics committee. He was a Master Mason and a life member of the Henry Knox Field Masonic Lodge of Alexandria, Va.

Visitation will be on Friday, Oct. 7, 2022 from 4-8 pm at Bizub-Parker Funeral Home, 47 Main St., Little Falls, NJ. A Funeral Service will be held at 11:30 am Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022 at the funeral home. Private Cremation to follow. In lieu of flowers, please consider a contribution to Wounded Warrior Project, P.O. Box 758516, Topeka, Kansas 66675-8516.

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