ADRIAENSSENS, George
George Adriaenssens died peacefully on December 31, 2023, at the age of 94, having bid adieu to his children and grandchildren over the holidays. He was born in Antwerp, Belgium, and earned his Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. After completing his military service, he joined IBM in Brussels as a systems engineer. He married his wife, Gaby, in 1961; his daughter and son were born in Brussels.
After 15 years with IBM, George joined The Coca-Cola Company in Vienna, Austria, as Architect of BASIS, a software system for Coca-Cola bottlers worldwide. George designed the system to handle various business requirements for bottlers in Europe, Africa, Australia, Asia, and the Americas. In his initial design, George had the foresight to address the now famous Y2K challenge for millennium date changes. During its 40-year run, the system was used by more than 400 international bottling operations.
George was also a mentor for many young computer programmers on the international team in Vienna. People of over 20 nationalities had the privilege to learn from George to become highly professional computer analysts and programmers. His exceptional understanding of the internal workings of computers was a great asset for the team. A lunch with George meant learning new things and walking away with napkins scribbled full of ideas.
With his usual focus on the long term, George agreed to move to Atlanta, GA in 1975 only after negotiating green cards for himself, his wife, and young children. He remained heavily involved in the development and expansion of BASIS and travelled all over the world to understand local needs. He did not hesitate to spend a day riding on delivery trucks in exotic places such as Soweto, SA and the favelas in Rio to better understand local route planning. He retired at the age of 68.
Upon retirement, George and Gaby traveled the world together, sharing their love of learning. When in Atlanta, he spent most of his time searching for a solution to the paradoxes of Einstein's controversial Special Theory of Relativity. This project turned out to be much more difficult than he had expected. In 2019, he published "Post-Relativity Physics, a Comprehensive Alternative to Modern Physics".
George grew up playing tennis in Belgium and started skiing in the Alps upon graduation from college. As a bachelor, he was rescued when buried under an avalanche in Davos, Switzerland. He loved sailing his small racing boat on the North Sea and the Mediterranean. Never one to shy away from adventure, he and his wife had to be rescued at the Belgian coast on a red flag, "sail at your own risk" day. During his four years in Austria, he spent winter weekends skiing with his family. His beloved sailboat made the move to Atlanta, where he continued to sail on Lake Lanier and on the Atlantic Ocean at Kiawah Island with his children and grandchildren. After decades of playing tennis, he switched to playing golf at The Dunwoody Country Club.
He and Gaby have spent the past seven years at the Lenbrook Retirement Community in Atlanta. George's unwavering belief in the power of evolving science fueled his optimistic outlook, even while living with Stage IV Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma for 16 years and later with dementia. He knew his family until the very end, and he will be greatly missed.
George is survived by his wife of 62 years, Gaby; his daughter, Myriam (Bob) Adams; his son, Luc (Christy) Adriaenssens; his grandchildren, Zachary (Frank), Steph (Sarah), Gabi, Connor, Kate and Jack; and in Belgium, his sister, Annik (Danny) Bracke; sisters-in-law, Bea Adriaenssens and Frieda Despiegelaere; brother-in-law, Walter Despiegelaere; and many nieces and nephews.
The family would like to extend a special thank you to his oncologist, Dr. Pradeep Jolly; his caregiver, Mimi Beaugris; the staff of the Memory Care floor at Lenbrook; and Becky Radke, NP of Crossroads Hospice Care.
There will be a Celebration of Life at Lenbrook, 3747 Peachtree Road NE, at 11 AM, on Saturday, January 27, 2024, followed by a reception.
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