George Dershimer
George LeRoy Dershimer, Jr. died on May 30, 2020 of Alzheimer’s Disease. He would have been 93 in July. Mr. Dershimer was a man of many interests and lived enthusiastically. Although his career was in the field of training and organizational development, he was also active in community theater in which he acted and directed and later became a playwright. He served as President of the Board of Trustees of St. John’s Unitarian Church. Earlier he had been on the Session of the Northminster Presbyterian Church and served as the Superintendent of Church School. Mr. Dershimer was a longtime volunteer consultant with the Executive Service Corps of Cincinnati (now OneSource Center for Nonprofit Excellence).
Mr. Dershimer was born in Youngstown, Ohio, the son of George L. and Gertrude Dershimer. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Cincinnati in 1950. Mr. Dershimer served in the U.S. Army from 1945 to 1947 where he was a non-commissioned officer in charge of a training school. He was employed by the Hilton-Davis Chemical Company as Assistant Personnel Manager from 1951 until 1955. He joined the Procter & Gamble Company in 1955 where he was employed as a human resource development consultant. He retired from there in 1984. Much of his work was aimed at improving team effectiveness.
After his retirement from Procter & Gamble, Mr. Dershimer operated a consulting business in training and organizational development until 1995 when he helped start the Cincinnati affiliate of Executive Service Corps, a national nonprofit organization using retired and working executives to serve as volunteer consultants with local nonprofit organizations. He was their first executive director and served until October 1997. At that time, he continued his service with Executive Service Corps as a volunteer consultant and as a member of the Board of Trustees. Mr. Dershimer designed workshops on board development, coaching, strategic planning, outcome assessment, project management training and consulting skills used by ESCC. In 2012, he was presented with Executive Service Corps’ Founders Award for invaluable service to the agency at a luncheon honoring his long service.
George, as he preferred to be called, also conducted board development projects for United Way, consulted with numerous nonprofits and presented workshops in conflict management for churches. He also volunteered with Cincinnati Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired as a radio reader. A member of St. John’s Unitarian-universalist Church in Clifton since 1975, George was a constant source of leadership and volunteerism. At the regional level of The Unitarian Universalist Association, George traveled and worked on a committee to assist ministerial candidates to discern their call to ministry. George loved all kinds of music. In addition to attending the Cincinnati Symphony with his wife, George sang in their church choir as well as other choirs. His strong tenor voice could be heard singing at Artis Senior Living up until a few days from his death. His family is very grateful for the compassionate and respectful care he received there his last three years.
Mr. Dershimer is survived by his wife of 24 years, Jan Hay, his son Mark Carter Dershimer, son-in-law Robert Raymond Rocklin, granddaughter Sarah Jane Dershimer, grandson Samuel George Rocklin and granddaughter Katharine Mari Rocklin. He is preceded in death by his beloved daughter, Linnea Katharine Dershimer Rocklin and his beloved grandson, Benjamin Robert Rocklin. He is also preceded in death by his former wife Ruth Katharine Djerf Dershimer.
A celebration of life will be held at a later date.
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