George Kelly Humphries, 71, of Barnardsville, North Carolina, passed away on December 21, the winter solstice. He is survived by his beloved wife of forty-two years, Linda Humphries; his treasured children Kathryn Anne Humphries, Sean Kelly Humphries, and Weston Powell Humphries; son-in-law Sigurjon Gudjonsson; and adored grandsons Magnus Reid and Matthias Powell Sigurjonsson. He was preceded in death by his parents Ralph Humphries and Kathryn Powell Humphries, and his brother Paul Edward Humphries.

George peeled into the parking lot at TC Roberson High School, where he taught history for 34 years, on two wheels each morning with the windows down and Elvis's 'Burning Love' at full volume, his more than mildly embarrassed children in tow. He ignited the enthusiasm of his students with his passionate lectures and carefully curated 12-foot long collaged bulletin board while infuriating pedestrian administrators with his unwillingness to be bridled.

He held a BS and an MA in Education from Western Carolina University; was a James Madison fellow; and served as the Chair of the Bicentennial Committee for the US Constitution in Asheville. In addition to teaching at Roberson, he taught for over twenty years at Mars Hill University.

George's love of history was equally matched by his deep love of nature. He documented the Southern Appalachian Highlands in unparalleled detail for forty years with his 4x5 camera, amassing tens of thousands of images. George published a dozen landscape photography books on North Carolina, The Blue Ridge Parkway, and the Great Smoky Mountains, among others.

He possessed an endless reservoir of curiosity and awe, from which he drew inspiration daily, and he encouraged those same practices in everyone he knew.

Dad, we'll see you at Roan Mountain, out on Big Grassy when the Gray's lilies are blooming, and at Hatteras at sunrise when the Blues are running. We'll imagine you knee-deep with the bald cypress at Merchant's Mill Pond, when the leaves have turned and the tannins have made the water the deepest black, with your dark cloth draped over your shoulder, your clothes soaking wet and caked in mud, and a grin from ear to ear. We'll remember you at Midnight Hole, at Big Creek, while we swam, hollering, "oh, that cold water will make you feel alive".

We'll hear you orating as we read about the riches of the Nile or the great American experiment. We'll hear you singing, in your lovely tenor voice, when the Platters or Sam Cooke or John Denver come on the radio. We'll hear you when this gets hard, saying that is life.

We thank you for leaving us this verse, marked in your Bible:

For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord; whether we live, therefore or die, we are the Lord's.

Romans 14:8

So long for now—we know that you are just around the bend of the mountain, up that secret ranger route with the dirt road dust billowing behind you, one hand framing a photograph, the other cupped to your ear, singing to us. We love you so.

George's service will be private for his immediate family.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Great Smoky Mountains Association.

Great Smoky Mountains Association PO Box 130

Gatlinburg, TN 37738 https://www.smokiesinformation.org/make-a-donation