George Cheeran Verghese passed away peacefully at home in Newton, Massachusetts, on March 10, 2026, months into his 100th year, and with family at his side.
Born in Mannar, Kerala State, India on November 2, 1926, he completed high school there, then obtained his Bachelor's in Physics from University College in Trivandrum and his Master's in Physics from Wilson College in Bombay. After a stint teaching at Hislop College in Nagpur, he was recruited in 1951 to teach in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, some 2,500 miles away. There he met another physics teacher, Mariam Abraham, a sparkling young woman from a town just a few miles from his in Kerala; she had also studied in Trivandrum and been similarly recruited to Addis Ababa. They married a year later, and taught at schools in Addis Ababa for two decades, typically spending summer holidays in Kerala. Their first two sons, George Jr. (Reji) and Abraham, were born in Ethiopia, and the youngest, Philip, was born in India. In his later years George taught at Haile Selassie University.
In 1965 George attended the University of Aston in Birmingham, England, for a year, earning a Master's in Nuclear Physics. He had subsequent shorter research stays at the University of Miami and the University of California, Irvine. In 1973 George and Mariam, with Philip, emigrated from Ethiopia to the US, settling initially in New Jersey and continuing to teach (he at the State University of New York Maritime College), eventually becoming US citizens. The older sons followed them later.
After retirement George and Mariam lived in Hawaii, Tennessee and Florida in succession, then back in Trivandrum, before finally returning to the US – first to Palo Alto, and finally in 2016 to Newton, to live with Reji and his wife Ann Kailath. Mariam passed away a few months later, lively till the end. Over the next ten years, George came to consider Newton home.
George had a gentle and unassuming manner, led a measured and disciplined life, but was bold and adventurous in his major life decisions. He leaves precious memories with Reji and Ann, Abraham and Cari, Philip and Nancy, grandchildren Steven, Jacob, Deia (and Stephen), Amaya, Tristan (and Madeleine), also with the large extended family he and Mariam had, and the many friends they made and kept over the decades and the continents.
A private family gathering will be held at the P.E. Murray-F.J. Higgins-George F. Doherty & Sons Funeral Home, 2000 Centre St., West Roxbury, 11am–12 noon on March 13, 2026, followed directly at 12:30pm by interment next to Mariam in Newton Cemetery & Arboretum, 791 Walnut St., Newton.