Histories

Birth: Oct. 1, 1867 Crawfordsville, Montgomery, Indiana
Death: Feb. 29, 1936 Portland, Multnomah, Oregon
Buried: Cypress View Mausoleum and Crematory San Diego, California. (Plot: T,4 / C,15)

George Washington Lorenz, son of Henry Lorenz and Augusta Reinhard, was born Oct. 1, 1867 in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Both of his parents were dead by the time he was about 3 years old, so he and his siblings, Mary and William H., went to live with Augusta's brother, William Reinhard and her sister, Caroline Reinhard in 1870.

At about the age of 21, George moved to Pullman, Illinois (now incorporated into Chicago) where he worked as a wood carver for the Pullman Palace Car Co. until 1901. The Pullman Co. required all its employees to live in the town of Pullman, a city a few miles from Chicago, which it owned and operated.

On Sept. 17, 1901, George married Nellie Streight in Chicago, Illinois. According to their marriage license and book: "George W. Lorenz and Nellie L. Streight were married on the Seventeenth day of September in Chicago, Illinois by Rev. James K. Shields. Witnesses: E. W. Streight, James B. White, and Mrs Carrie Reinhard.

George was transferred to Denver, Colorado in 1902 where he first worked as a machinist before becoming a Foreman for Pullman in 1903. While in Denver, their daughter Edna Augusta Lorenz was born in 1904. That same year, George took a job as Foreman for the Union Pacific Railroad in Omaha, Nebraska; later becoming a Timber Inspector. His second daughter, Jesse Caroline was born in Omaha about 1905; and son George H. was born about two years later.

About 1932, George, Sr. was transferred to Portland, Oregon; remaining with the Union Pacific Railroad until his death in 1936.