Robert L. German

Robert German, aged 84 years, of Grand Forks, North Dakota, formerly of Honolulu, Hawai'i, passed away on Friday, 18 February 2011, at Altru Hospital, with his loving family at his side. Robert was born in Berwick, Pennsylvania on 29 August 1926 to George and Alice Mae German. Enlisting in the Marine Corps as a 17 year-old in 1944, Robert served as part of the occupational forces in Okinawa. Upon his discharge, he used the GI Bill to attend college and became an Army Infantry Officer upon graduation. On 17 June 1952, he married Beverly Cole of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania and together they departed for his first assignment in Anchorage, Alaska. Over the course of his thirty year career, Robert had many assignments, including an oversea tour in Germany, three tours in Turkey, and two tours to Vietnam, the first in 1964 - 1965, where he served as an advisor the South Vietnamese Rangers and the second in 1968 - 1969, where he served as Battalion Commander for the 2/501st Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. Robert retired as a Colonel in 1982 following his last assignment at Camp Smith, Hawai'i. In 1991, his beloved wife, Beverly, passed away. In 2002, Robert moved to Grand Forks, North Dakota to be closer to his grandchildren. An Eagle Scout and 33rd degree Mason, he was active in Boy Scouting and the Shriners Crippled Children's Hospital in Honolulu, Hawai'i. He is preceded in death by a brother and a sister and his beloved wife, Beverly. Robert is survived by his son, Cole (Joy) German of Memphis, Tennessee; daughter Virginia (Marvin) Regorrah of East Grand Forks, Minnesota; and grandchildren Beverly, Nadya, Tolik, Kola, Joshua, Benjamin and Riley.