George Rex Cason
January 8, 1937 – October 6, 2006
George Rex Cason, GR to many, Rex to others, what a tremendous man,
husband, father, brother, father-in law, step-father, grandfather, son-in-
law, Senior Chief Petty Officer Radioman United States Navy, law
enforcement officer SWAT San Diego Police Department, cowboy, friend
and Christian.
By any measure, GR has truly been a leader among men. Throughout
his life he enjoyed an outstanding reputation and has been one of a
unique group of individuals (and taking the liberty to use the following
expression) who truly was a legend in his time. He was not a flash in the
pan, but unfailingly has been a man among men, a man’s man, whether
that was in the United States Navy, the San Diego Police Department, as
a member of his community, or amongst his family and friends. He was
always a standup, standout individual, willing to speak his mind and to do
that which he believed was right, and always a man of his word and to be
counted on. And even with his quick wit and unrelenting sense of humor,
he took life seriously and was always a source of wisdom and sound
guidance for those entrusted to his care, for those who sought his
support, and for those he merely would take under wing.
He and his family sacrificed much throughout his life, because GR was a
man committed to causes greater than himself. His 25 years in the
United States Navy and his 17 years in the San Diego Police department
speak to a man who gave of himself for the benefit of his fellow man. GR
was willing to endure the long deployments and separation from family
while at sea, or to face the daily uncertainty and risk encountered as a
law enforcement officer, to preserve the freedoms we enjoy as citizens in
this great country of ours … and that was important to him. He was
always the man others wanted as their instructor, or on their dive, or on
their mission, or to be their friend, or to simply acknowledge approval of
them, because he personified those characteristics that all men aspire to
have and to uphold, and that make us true men.
None of us are perfect and it is comforting to know that GR admitted that
about himself. For those who were close and knew him, there was no
greater gift from GR than to hear him pray, to see him maintain his dignity,
to hear his testimony of the journey he took from being an orphan, to
being told that he would not live to be thirty, to reading the entire Bible on
a submarine deployment, to his acknowledging and reflecting on the
devoted support of his family and friends throughout the years. For while
GR did not wear his religion on his sleeve, he carried it in his heart and
his soul, and he was willing to share it as he found strength and comfort
in his faith as he faced this last great challenge of his life. He was a
Christian and he was saved. And, as we would all expect, GR passed
away as he had lived, strong in courage, with dignity and with
commitment to finish the task well, and he never felt forsaken by his God
or sorry for himself. He has truly passed to a greater life, he is at peace,
and he is free.
RMCS George Rex ‘GR’ Cason
BJU-1 Team 13 1969-70
d. 10-06-2006
“Fair winds and following seas”
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