Died February 23, 1940 – September 1, 2019,San Francisco, California
College: Pierson
Widow: Cynthia N. Doubleday
Geographic Expeditions, Inc.
1008 General Kennedy Avenue
P.O. Box 29902
San Francisco, CA 94129-1729
415-346-3738
415-346-5535 (Fax)
geo@geoex.com
www.geoex.com
Children: Ned, 1963; Jennifer, 1966; Stephen, 1968
Grandchildren: 6 happy granddaughters
George Doubleday II, founder and Chairman of Geographic Expeditions, an early leader in adventure travel, died unexpectedly on September 1, 2019 following heart surgery.
George was a native of New York City and Ridgefield, Connecticut, who graduated from Yale in 1961 and then joined the Marines. He flew the F-8 Crusader, a carrier- based jet fighter. In 1964, he returned to civilian life and worked as Vice President, Operations, for Pan American World Airways. In 1978, he moved to Hong Kong to head Pan Am’s Far Eastern Operations.
When he returned to the States, Geo moved with his family to San Francisco, the home state of his grandmother, Alice Moffit Doubleday. His adventurous spirit surfaced again when he took leadership of a small travel company, one of the first to offer travel to Tibet, in 1981. That company grew under George’s leadership into GeoEx— one of the most respected travel companies in the world offering unmatched cultural experiences in unusual corners of the world. The company has won numerous awards, including Outside Magazine’s “Best Places to Work.”
Three children by his first marriage to Lucinda Burling survive him: Ned Doubleday (Hilary), Jennifer Brown (Thatcher), and Stephen Doubleday (Tanya); and six granddaughters: Serena and Isabelle; Hollis and Crosby; and Eloise and Ingrid. After his first marriage ended in divorce, he married Cynthia Neuhaus in 2003 and his family expanded to include Caitlin Travers (Chris), Jennifer Glasser and Mary Elizabeth Riley (Colin). He is also survived by his beloved donkey, Abner.
In lieu of flowers, Geo’s family requests that donations be made to the UCSF Foundation. PO Box 45339, San Francisco 94145. For Dr. Klein-B3362 in memory of George Doubleday II.
Reunion Essay
Since June 1961, our planet has made 50 revolutions around the sun, traveling at an orbital velocity of 67,000 miles per hour. Hard to believe as I sit outside on a tranquil sunny day, the only sound being the softly falling leaves from a nearby madrone tree. But recent discoveries in the formation and nature of our universe defy the imagination and test our ability to grasp the vastness of space or the distances between heavenly bodies. I smile at the notion that humans fancy themselves as the only intelligent beings in the universe, realizing that even the closest planetary systems are light-years away, rendering our ability to probe them for signs of life virtually impossible in our lifetime.
This leads me to look critically at our own planet and at modern human behavior – impatience, intolerance, greed, lust for power, inability to learn from past mistakes. Earth’s growing population has already encroached on wildlife, impacted oceans and forests, clouded our atmosphere, and challenged our food supply. I see insufficient concern for the future by most governments and no long-term plan for remedial action. Not a rosy picture for my grandchildren and their children.
We live in a society that glorifies wealth and power. Politicians are more concerned with winning reelection than governing. Financial wizards are determined not to leave a penny on the table as they construct ever more complicated ways to multiply their wealth. Competition, cynicism, distrust abound. My wife teases me about my disgust for cab drivers – why do they race around me on a light-sequenced street only to block me at the next traffic light? And don’t get me started on Ponzi schemes perpetrated by Masters of the Universe.
With the growing wisdom of someone who has been around the barn a few times, I realize that my life has been full and rich, that my list of things yet to do is very short, and that I have been very fortunate to live when and where I have.