George E. Kalem Jr.

George E. Kalem, Jr., age 97, a resident of Cornerstone in Canton Massachusetts, passed away peacefully on July 6, 2024.

Born in Malden on June 21, 1927, he was the son of the late George E. Kalem and the late Urania Soteriades.  Raised in Malden, he attended local schools and after graduating high school, enlisted in the United States Navy.  He served as Electrician’s Mate Third Class stationed on Guam from 1945-46. His primary responsibility was maintaining the power generators for the base, which was used as a staging area for troops returning home from the Pacific Theater.

After the war, he enrolled in the Electrical Engineering course at Wentworth Institute in Boston.

After graduating, he secured a position working for Air Force Contracts within the school, partnered with Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford, MA. where he worked for eighteen years, doing mechanical and electrical packaging for high altitude balloon research.

George moved to Quincy, MA in 1952 and maintained a four-family house there as landlord.

He married Mary Frances Vetree in 1953 and the family moved to Canton, MA in 1965.

George started his own business in 1968:  the Daily Data Diary stock logging notebook system

He held various positions as an engineering aide within the electronics industry after leaving Wentworth; Becton-Dickinson and Company, Foxboro Company, Electro Signal Lab, and Hazeltine Corporation involving various products:  medical devices, process control equipment, smoke detectors, and computer displays.

In his youth, George spent summers in Hull, MA and many hours on Nantasket Beach where he enjoyed body surfing. He enjoyed listening to and playing jazz music on his Hammond organ. After taking a night course in woodworking, he built kitchen cabinets for the Quincy apartment, and office cabinets and counters for his father-in-law.  He maintained an extensive set of tools in his workshop where he modified and repaired many machines and household items, both for himself and his neighbors.

George’s yard and garden was a source of enjoyment and pride, and he spent many hours maintaining them with care.

He is survived by his son:  George E. Kalem III of Attleboro, and sister Anne S. Phillips of Melrose, and many nieces and nephews.

Family and friends are invited to attend a memorial service in the Congregational Church of Canton 1541 Washington Street, Canton, MA on August 10, 2024, at 11AM. Interment Canton Corner Cemetery. Arrangements by the Pushard Family Funeral Home 210 Sherman St., Canton. In lieu of flowers, donations in George’s memory may be made to The Humane Society of the United States.

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