George Decker Jr.
George “Bud” Decker died on December 1st, 2020. Born in Elyria, Ohio on April 7, 1925 to the late George Sr. and Rena Decker, he left Elyria High School in 1943 to join the US Army Air Corps, where he served until 1946. He received his Elyria High School diploma through USAFI. Bud attended Rose Polytechnic Institute in Terre Haute, Indiana and was graduated from Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. Mr. Decker was married in 1951 to Pam Wavrick in Amherst, Ohio. In 1954 they moved to Santa Barbara.
Bud worked for the Acme Telectronics Division of United Press in New York City and Cleveland, Ohio, before being transferred to Pan Fax, the Research & Development Lab in Santa Barbara. He later worked for General Telephone Co., D&R, Ltd., and Moseley Associates Inc., before retiring in 1989 after 20 years with Applied Magnetics Corp.
Bud was a member of the Simon Eisner Santa Barbara Master Plan Committee in Santa Barbara in the late 1950s. He joined the Volunteers in 1968 in excavations at the Presidio Chapel site, and continued to be active with the Soldados of El Presidio. He was a member of First Presbyterian Church, a volunteer driver for the America Cancer Society, and an active member of the Santa Barbara Elks Lodge No. 613.
Mr. Decker is survived by his wife, Pam; five daughters, Ellen Coudray of Ojai; Dawn Gendron of Carpinteria; Jill Rauch of Goleta; Barbara Chehami, and Laura Decker of Santa Barbara; eight grandchildren and five great grandchildren. He is predeceased by his parents and his two brothers, Dick and Bob.
There are no services planned. Friends who wish may send donations to Visiting Nurse and Hospice Care of Santa Barbara, or the charity of donor’s choice.