George Heywood
April 9, 1933 - November 16, 2025
George Heywood, 92, longtime Alaskan resident, passed away on November 16th.
George came to Alaska from the UK in 1974 with his wife Anne and family, to work firstly for BP, then Alyeska. He was a planning engineer who brought with him great knowledge of project scheduling based on the American-devised system of CPM, which was put to great use during the planning and construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline.
After retiring, he found that even his great love of golf wasn’t enough to keep him busy, so he returned to work as a consultant for Hawk Consultants, allowing many more companies to benefit from his great knowledge of project management. He finally retired from Hawk in 2021 at the ripe old age of 88.
George was born in Nottingham, England, in April 1933 to Arthur and Winifred. He loved recounting stories of his childhood, including a first introduction to things American upon being given peanut butter by the US soldiers who were billeted nearby during WW2.
After excelling in sports — athletics, rugby, and swimming — at school, he joined the Royal Navy, ending up as a Chief Petty Officer in the submarine division. During one of their stopovers in Gairloch, a strange-looking vessel came alongside; it was the USS Nautilus, the first nuclear-powered submarine. Apparently, the two crews hugely enjoyed some downtime together. While on his initial training in Scotland, George relaxed by playing piano for the camp band, the Caledonia Dixielanders, but, more importantly, met his wife-to-be, Anne Butler— love at first sight, he always said. They had a shared love of dancing and were always to be found jiving or latterly waltzing at any parties or celebrations.
George and Anne married in July 1955 and went on to have three children: Kim, Gayle, and Craig, before moving to the United States. George and Anne always enjoyed returning to the UK to meet up with family and also for George to play golf. They also loved visiting Las Vegas, and since Anne’s passing in 2001, George continued to visit the Golden Nugget at least once a year with his daughter Gayle, meeting up with various friends and family members while there. He also loved genealogy and, after researching his own family as far back as he could, helped many others to discover their ancestors.
He is survived by his children, Kim (and her husband Steve), Gayle, Craig (and his wife Kristina); four granddaughters, Stephanie, Felicity, Scarlett, and Veronica; three great-grandchildren, Cairns, Indigo, and Lachlan; his sister, June; brother-in-law, Bob,, and many close family members in the United Kingdom and Canada. George will be missed greatly.
A Celebration of George’s Life will be held Wednesday, January 7, 2026 at the Petroleum Club 3-5pm to which all friends are invited.
Mel Jessee
I'm so sorry to hear of George's "passing the bar" as they say in the Royal Navy.
George was a good friend, a good college, a good neighbor, and a very good golfing buddy!
I worked with George in various roles at Alyeska. We worked directly together when he was the Project Controls Supervisor for Scheduling, and I was the Project Controls Supervisor for Cost during the early 1990s.
We lived two houses from each other along Chester Creek on Newcomb Drive in East Anchorage.
I always enjoyed the times we golfed together. He was a “machine” who hit consistently straight down the fairway on every hole!
I will miss George and his big smile and positive attitude about work, life and family!
May God bless you and keep you my friend!
Elden Johnson
Rest in peace George, A devotee to Alyeska, TAPS, and Alaska. I loved his brittish ways. When a plan or cost estimate was needed to get a project started or controlled, George was cherrfully and expertly there. I miss you and hope to meet up with you again ... where good pipeliners go.
Glenn Morrison
George was a good colleague, mentor and friend. I didn't meet him while on the pipeline project but first worked with him with Alyeska Pipeline in the Project Controls Group in 1992. Hawk Consultants was very fortunate to have him on their staff and he served their clients well. He was the "Go To" guy for all things regarding Project Control and was always willing to help us "youngsters" and steer us in the right direction. RIP George and may God bless!George Andersen
George was not only a close friend but the best Mentor I ever had. He shared his vast knowledge of the industry but life's experiences. He did so out of love for his profession and the people around him. Always professional and positive and I am eternally grateful for being one of his pupils. Gods speed my good man and a job well done.
Larry Blachut
George was another one of those people who properly spoke about "Pro - ject Controls". He always aproached projects with the full understanding of the applicable aspects of Project Management needed to make the project sucessful.
Carl Grzybowski
I had the privilege of working with George starting in 1980, when he hired me as a planning engineer. He possessed an incredible command of project scheduling and the Critical Path Method (CPM), but he was far more than just a technical expert.
He provided an insightful, steady hand that guided my work. Most inspiring was his warm disposition and his ability to turn routine planning into genuine discovery. He enjoyed challenges and knew how to drive a conversation to explore every angle of the Pipeline and pump station operations. He was a mentor who made my work better and everyone’s days brighter.
When I brought my personal Macintosh into the office in 1984 to print out large flow charts for a major pipeline repair. George didn’t just tolerate the new technology—he encouraged it.
George was right there with me, reviewing the logic with patience and insight. He had a unique gift for conversation; he didn't just give orders, he explored ideas with you. whether we were discussing pump station improvements on the Pipeline or just chatting life, his friendly disposition made every interaction a pleasure. His joyful demeanor was illustrated with a poster in his office with a cat in a precarious position with the words, just hang in there.
He was a true professional and a wonderful friend to many.
Godspeed, my good man. A job well done.
Dave Norton
I worked with George during early days of TAPS operations and onward through his career at Alyeska. Later, he was a valued member of the Hawk team and spent many hours collabrating with Maynard Tapp on project control issues. He ended his professional career working as a Hawk teammate on the various gasline project concepts at AGDC. At our recent Hawk holiday brunch we saluted George and recognized his daughter Gayle who was in attendance. I always valued my conversations with him, be it talking about work, or golf, or submarines. He was a steady and precise golfer late into his arc of life. I hope people can attend his celebration of life on January 7.
Bill Howitt
I worked with George for almost his entire career with Alyeska and then on several of the proposed Gasline projects when we were both consultants working through Hawk. He was always the consumate professional and a pleasure to work with. He was always one of the first to provide a warm welcome when I was in the office. Very sorry to see him go. Rest in peace George.
Keith Burke
George was an amazing Father and a wonderful human being! He was a true professional and the definition of a role model to all of the people who knew him. Everyone who knew George will truly miss him. You made a difference George! Gid bless you!