George Bruce Tilden

passed away at home on September 23, 2016 at age 76 after a long battle with cancer.George could be characterized as a Renaissance man, a soloist, verbally brilliant, striving for goals he set for himself and realized in the independent life he enjoyed. George's English ancestry is traced to a truly American family who traveled on a ship which sailed from Holland very close to the time the Mayflower landed in Boston. The family settled in Situate, Massachusetts in an early American colony.Another ancestor of the family was Richard the Lionheart. The family resided in Boston for many years. Another family member, Samuel Tilden, was famous in politics for attempting to rout the Tweed political machine. A branch of George's family eventually moved to the San Francisco area. His grandfather, George Tilden, was a well known Marin County artist there.George was born in San Francisco and his father, George Hamlin Tilden, and mother, Helen Fern Tressel Tilden, lived very close to the San Francisco Zoo when George was very young. That could have contributed to his great love for animals throughout his life, especially bears, horses and cats. He could hear the lions roar every day at feeding time and that may have sparked his prolific imagination.George read voraciously in his young life, especially enjoying Tarzan novels and listening to classical music his mother Fern played for him in his very early years.George had a zest for life that would never leave him. His sense of humor was contagious. He had a photographic memory and spoke at least seven languages very well. One could say that George ordered up a life for himself and lived it vociferously.George graduated from UC Berkeley. He was phi beta kappa and a member of Delta Sigma Phi fraternity. He began striving to know God in his early years which led to his ordination and work as an Episcopal priest beginning in General Seminary in New York where he perfected his Spanish skills enjoying his friends in the Puerto Rican community. He also taught high school for 25 years in the Santa Rosa, California area, principally French, sometimes Spanish and English. He also enjoyed chaperoning high schoolers to France in the summers when he was able and teaching them the grand aspects of French life. He enjoyed monitoring the proms and dances at his school and working with young people as a priest at his church in California.George was a desert lover and regularly traveled to the Reno, Nevada region in the summers when he lived in Santa Rosa. He learned to ride Arabian horses and especially loved roaming the hills between Virginia City and Carson City on his horse Beau for days and days at a time. When he met and married his wife Nancy in 1989, they bought a horse ranch in Nevada and he realized his dream of living in the desert. George also added bears to his list of favorite animals since his wife had spent years In Alaska and they both spent time studying them, George fearlessly roving the Anan Wilderness close to Wrangell sighting many bears in the wild and photographing them. He also loved fishing in Alaska and stocking the freezer with halibut. They decided to moved to Bainbridge Island in 1993 for work and play in the Northwest where they have continued to enjoy their marriage of 27 years.Most of all, George could be characterized as a poet and musician. He loved music of all kinds and it reverberated in his soul. His instruments included saxophone, violin and clarinet, but he especially loved playing and studying flute and flamenco guitar. He enjoyed dressing up and experiencing the nightlife and did so whenever he could with a great panache.George was a Mason and thrived on participating in ritual. He was past master of Renton Lodge on Bainbridge Island and was a member of the Daylight Masons in Seattle which counts among their members many gifted musicians, poets and actors. George could be seen often around Bainbridge, Seattle and Reno wearing his iconic black Fedora and carrying his camera, stopping to photograph what took his fancy and also enjoying martinis at his favorite places. He loved especially playing bridge in several venues on the island. He also played on soloist flute his favorite tunes for the folks in assisted living on Bainbridge.George has outlived most of his family members. He is survived by his loving wife, Nancy Tilden, of Bainbridge Island. He will be especially missed by his friends in his flute choir on Bainbridge Island and his friends who play bridge regularly. He will be missed by his loving friends, Barbara Wolf of Suquamish, and his long-time friend Ada Nourse in Santa Rosa, California.Reno, take this kindly and brilliant soul home to the hills of his favorite place in Nevada. Arrangements entrusted to Cook Family Funeral Home.