University News
WIU Mourns Passing of Business, Real Estate Professor Emeritus George C. Potter
October 9, 2009
MACOMB, IL - - George C. Potter, 88, a marketing and finance professor emeritus of Western Illinois University, passed away Oct. 7 in Macomb.
Visitation will be held from 2-4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 11 at Dodsworth-Piper-Wallen Funeral Home, 201 W. Carroll St., Macomb. A memorial service, followed by a reception, will be held at 1 p.m. Monday, Oct. 12 at St. George's Episcopal Church, 231 E. Carroll St., Macomb.
A native of nearby Avon, Potter was a World War II Bronze Star and Purple Heart South Pacific Infantry veteran. He enrolled in Western State Teachers College in Fall 1945, and he earned his bachelor's (1948) and master's (1949) degrees in education. He received his Ph.D. (1959) from the State University of Iowa.
While an undergraduate, Potter was given the responsibility for directing the Veterans Service Bureau at Western. He and other veterans formed their own organization, the Western Veterans Association (or Vets Club), and Potter was the first president.
He joined Western's faculty in Fall 1949 and continued to direct the Veterans Service Bureau. He was named director of off-campus student teaching at Western in 1956; he returned to fulltime teaching in 1964 and developed the real estate and insurance program that would be used when the College of Business formed in 1968. Potter directed this program until his retirement in 1987.
Potter was a charter member of the Lamoine Valley Board of Realtors, serving three terms as president; he served on the board of directors of the Illinois Real Estate Educational Foundation for 10 years; and he was a founding member and the first president of the Illinois Real Estate Educators Association (REEA), which, in 1988, recognized him for a lifetime devoted to real estate education. He was a charter member of the National Real Estate Educators Association. He was an active member of the Macomb YMCA board of directors; St. George's Episcopal Church; the United Way; the Boy Scouts; and he was the owner of Potter Real Estate Appraising in Macomb. Potter received Western's Alumni Achievement Award in 2001. The Dr. George C. Potter Scholarship in Marketing and Finance is a WIU Foundation scholarship available to fulltime junior and senior students in those disciplines.
He married Lucille Cox in 1945. She preceded him in death. He is survived by his son, Chris Potter of Annapolis, MD; his daughter, Mary Potter of Port Charlotte, FL; and two grandchildren, Anne and Alison Potter.
Memorials may be made in his name to the Western Illinois University Foundation to be used for scholarships.
Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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