George Gordon Chock was the only child of George Chock and his first wife, Edith Elizabeth Maes. Gordon was born on 30 April 1930 in Dillon, Montana. This was Edith’s second marriage, so Gordon had three older step-sisters, Margaret, Mary Ann, and Marvel Reddington.
He was the apple of his father’s eye, and even after Dad and Edith divorced, they made sure that Gordon spent a lot of time with him. Dad took him to Hanalei for many summers, and several cousins remember playing with him there.
He was very athletic, and played the ukulele (as you see in the picture) and had a beautiful singing voice. He spent his childhood in what looks like an idyllic setting for a boy — fishing, shooting, camping and horsing around with his relatives from Edith’s extended family in Idaho. And then the trips with Daddy, surfing and swimming and eating all that amazing food from Kauai Apo (Chun Shee).
1st Lt. George Gordon Chock — 1955
Gordon Chock and Wanda Hurley
I am so glad to know he packed a glorious life into the time he had on earth, because his turn only lasted 25 years.
He joined the Air Force and trained as a pilot, intending to fight in the Korean War. During training, he fell in love with a young school teacher, Wanda Faye Hurley and they got married in Clovis, New Mexico.
The War ended before he completed training, so he was assigned to fly out of Germany, doing missions in support of actions in Libya and elsewhere.
He died on 8 August 1955 in a accident — he was flying a jet plane over Germany and got disoriented with vertigo and weather conditions and crashed.
Baby Wayne
He left behind his young wife Wanda and their baby boy, Robert Wayne Chock — less than a year old.
They sailed with his body back to New York, and then traveled by train to bury him in the military cemetery at San Bruno.
George F Chock holding grandson Wayne at Gordon’s grave site August 1955
You can visit his grave at the Golden Gate National Cemetery San Bruno, San Mateo County, California,USA PLOT Q 0 491
We are delighted to have finally located his son — now called Wayne Chock Jacques — who resides in Austin, Texas.
Wayne Chock Jacques — February 2018
He is a professional bluegrass/country-rock musician who is known to fans as Chojo, and we are finding threads of talents and gifts that he and his two daughters have inherited from his Chock lineage. We will undoubtedly blog more about this as we get to know each other better. This journey is just beginning. Here’s a little bit about our first meeting at a Slaid Cleaves performance at Dazzle Denver.
Gordon Growing Up
These are some pictures of Gordon that I found in my father’s photo album. Some were labeled and some were not. But all provide a closer look at this beautiful child–beloved by both his parents and relatives from both sides of the family–who lived a short but powerful life, ran fast, flew fast, served his country with honor, loved a beautiful woman, made friends who still miss him, and fathered a gifted child who brings joy to the world through his music.
