George Lee Pinkston

Graveside funeral services, with military honors, for George Lee Pinkston will be held 2:00PM, Friday, February 1, 2019 at the Dougherty Cemetery with Reverend Randy Chapman officiating.
George was born October 24, 1921 in Newcastle, TX, to the late Burr H. & Teresa Francis (Youngblood) Pinkston. He died Tuesday, January 29, 2019 in Sulphur, at the age 97 years 3 month and 5 days.
The Pinkston family moved to Dougherty in 1929. George attended school at Dougherty and in his late teens and early 20’s, he worked with the Civilian Conservation Corps in four locations. Later, during WWII, he served as a Staff Sargent in the United States Army with the 33rd Infantry Division. His service included the Pacific Theater, with the 130th Infantry Regiment; served in Hawaii, New Guinea, Dutch Indonesian Island of Morotai and intense fighting in the Philippines. His company received a Presidential Citation from President Harry S. Truman for taking Hill X in the Philippines, that other groups were not able to take from the Japanese. He was also in the occupational force that went into Japan after the war had ended. George received several prestigious medals for his military service including, the Presidential Unit Citation, Good Conduct Medal, Philippine Liberation Medal, Rifleman Medal and Expert Rifleman Medal. George was very proud of his service to our country and enjoyed sharing his military history with family and friends.
After his service to our country, George spent many years working as a shovel operator in the Arizona copper mines. After retiring in 1983, he moved from Arizona back to Dougherty. In 2012, George moved back to Arizona. As his health continued to fail, his only desire was be back home in Oklahoma, so on January 7, 2019, his family moved him from Tucson to the Sulphur Veteran’s Center.
George, like his brothers, loved to tinker with things. They all had a desire to see what things were made of and exactly how things worked. He was pretty much a self-taught engineer when it came to the mechanics of electric and gas motors. George enjoyed carpentry work, traveling and photographing nature at its finest. In younger years, George Pinkston was quite the dancer. No matter where he went to dance, there was a line of ladies awaiting the next dance with him.
Survivors include his beloved friend and devoted caregiver of 28 years, Dot Garrett; two daughters, Theresa Tompkinson of Tucson, AZ and Anna Knight of Euless, TX; nine grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren; as well as numerous nieces and nephews.
In addition to his parents, George was preceded in death by one daughter, Mahonna Clanton; his seven siblings, Opal McCollum, Myrtle Jenkins, Lela Deel, Jewell Carter, John Pinkston, Cas Pinkston and Jay Pinkston; grandson, Travis Tompkinson; and great-granddaughter, Natalie Morales.