FINLEY, GEORGE N.

George Nelson Finley, 83, Lane, died Saturday, Dec. 25, 2004, at North Point Skilled Nursing Center, Paola. Services will be 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Lane United Methodist Church.

He was born Nov. 21, 1921 to Paul and Nellie (Kelsey) Finley at Mount Ayr, Iowa. He graduated from Ellston, Iowa High School in 1939.

During World War II, he served in the South Pacific with the U.S. Marine 2nd Raider Battalion and the 4th Marine Regiment.

He worked as a commercial fisherman on the Missouri River and at different times for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He was a licensed land surveyor. He had lived in Lane since 1959.

He was a member of the Lane United Methodist Church, Lane VFW Post 9734, U.S. Marine Raider Association, the American Congress of Surveying and Mapping, the Sierra Club, AARP, National Association of Retired Federal Employees, National Rifle Association, the Nature Conservancy, and the National Resource Defense Council.

He married Mary Ellen (Gibbs) Coyle on Dec. 22, 1951, in Leon, Iowa. She died July 13, 1994.

Survivors include a step-brother, Albert Sorenson, Boone, Iowa, a step-sister, Anna Landis, Clive, Iowa, and nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by a brother, Albert Finley, two sisters, Esther Share and Lillian Bullick, and a step-son, F.W. “Bill” Coyle.

Friends may pay respects after 1:30 today at Eddy-Blanchard Funeral Home, Osawatamie, where family will greet friends from 7 p.m. today. Burial will be at Lane Cemetery.

A memorial may be made to the Lane United Methodist Church.