GEORGE G. DRISKELL
NOVEMBER 25, 1994
George Graham Driskell, a Moscow artist, businessman and University of Idaho employee, died of complications from a bone marrow transplant Friday at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center at Seattle, where he had been a patient since Oct. 18. He was 51.
He was born July 26, 1943, at Cheyenne, Wyo., to Philip Bacon and Ruby Elizabeth Graham Driskell. In 1957 the family moved to Lewiston, where he graduated from Lewiston High School in 1961. In 1972 he graduated from the UI with a bachelor’s degree in sculpture and continued to work in the art field. He was a blacksmith, a wood sign carver and was commissioned to do small personal pieces.
After graduation he built a bronze representation of a fish egg for Dworshak National Fish Hatchery at Ahsahka, Idaho. He also constructed two other pieces, one for the Theophilus Tower area on the UI campus and a large wooden sculpture in Friendship Square in downtown Moscow. He and a friend, Mark Solomon, went into business as North Idaho Forge and Fabrication, a metal-working shop at Moscow. After seven years he sold his share of the business to his partner.
He married Kathylu Szabo June 29, 1987, at Moscow. A previous marriage to Jeanette Ross, now of Boise, ended in divorce. He co-founded Creative Workshops, a cooperative that provided work space for artists and craftsmen. In 1992 he sold his share of the business. After leaving the metal shop he was self-employed as a carpenter and concrete form worker. He eventually went to work as a foreman for a repair and roofing crew at UI.
In 1990 he helped establish the recycling and solid waste program at the UI, where he was employed at the time of his death. He also helped to found the Human Needs Council and the Coats for Folks drive.
He is survived by his wife of Moscow; two sons, Graham Curtis Driskell of Genesee and Cary Phillip Driskell of Spokane; a daughter, Carol Lynn Driskell of Moscow; and his mother, Ruby Driskell of Moscow.
A memorial service, covered dish dinner and wake will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday at St. Mary’s Catholic Church Family Center at 618 E. First St., Moscow. Jim Prall of Moscow will lead the service. An informal wake will follow at the Garden Lounge at Moscow.
The family suggests memorials be made to Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Memorials, 1124 Columbia St., Seattle, Wash., 98104, or Human Needs Council in care of D. Alpe, Box 8818, Moscow, Idaho 83843.