George Halby
April 18, 1939 - July 19, 2025

George Halby was born on April 18, 1939 to Joseph and Alice Halby. He passed away at home in Blythe, Calif. after a long illness at the age of 86.  Adding to the family were two brothers, Thomas and Joseph, and one sister, Pamela.

His family belonged to St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church. He grew up attending masses and his family was very active in the Church. He had a friendly and outgoing personality which resulted in his forming many lifelong friendships. At the age of 17, George enlisted in the US Air Force and for 4 years he worked on the B52. He took advantage when the opportunity came to travel to other countries and work on American planes that needed repair. France was his favorite.

George loved working on cars as well. In high school he built a small white Ford. When he was older he built from scratch his 1939 Ford Coupe that took him over four decades to complete. Those were accomplishments he was proud of. After his Honorable Discharge from the Air Force, he returned home to Blythe. He had a lifelong love for Blythe and chose to always make it his home. His Dad and Uncle Mike built Thunderbird Lanes for bowling around 1962. He attended AMF and learned how to run a bowling alley and when he came back he was very successful. He became quite the bowler, as was his brother, Joey (Joey was better than him). Attached to the bowling alley was the Sultan's Den, where they served dinner and had live entertainment. He worked there after the bowling section closed, until 2:00 am.

George had always been a good artist but without training so he decided to go to Art School in Los Angeles. He did this while his girlfriend, Lavonne, went to ASU in Tempe to study to become a teacher. After four years they married and returned to Blythe. He bought an established janitorial service and was soon cleaning most of the businesses in town. He and Richard Phipps bought Valley Sweeper from Jerry Bartlett and swept parking lots at night. The sign on the sweeper said, "Help us do our thing. Keep Blythe clean!" After selling the janitorial service he bought Halby's Store for Men from Dick Farrage. He added silkscreening, prison uniforms, watch, jewelry repair and enlarged the shoe department. After 40+ years of ownership he passed the business on to his nephew, Joey Halby.

Anything he thought Blythe needed, he tried hard to offer. George loved the night life and one of his favorite things to do was deal cards and play poker. And you could find him having an early morning cup of coffee at Courtesy with friends and he always had a smile waiting for you there. George used his art skills to create hundreds of different designs for silkscreening. He loved his work, he loved his family (all the way to L.A.), and he truly loved Blythe. He worked hard to bring jobs to Blythe, including traveling to Sacramento to fight for the new state prison to be opened here. He served on the Prison Citizens Advisory Council for many years. He was on the board of the Blythe Chamber of Commerce and he supported the Blythe BPOE Elks Lodge and was Elk of the Year. George cooked often for Elks dinners and for many weddings. He also cooked sitdown dinners for St. Joan of Arc Bazaars. George loved Notre Dame Football dearly and he would be very upset with us if we didn't say, "Go Irish!"

George Halby is survived by his wife of 60 years, Lavonne; his children, George, Melissa, and Dana; his grandchildren, Rachael, Gabriel, Angie, Braelynn, and Alex; and great grandchildren, Andrew, Lucky, Dahlia, Gabriel Jr, and Lily.

Viewing and Rosary will be held on Monday, July 28th, at Frye Chapel, 633 N. 7th St., from 6-8:00pm, and Funeral Mass on Tuesday, July 29th, at St. Joan of Arc, 875 N. Chanslorway, at 10:00am, followed by a short committal service with Military Honors at Palo Verde Cemetery.  A Celebration of Life will be held after burial at Elk's Lodge at 244 W. Hobsonway.