George Zander

Memorializing George Zander

A Celebration of Life for George Zander, heroic activist, will be held Monday, March 21^st, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Palm Springs Pavilion, 401 S. Pavilion Way.  I had the privilege of knowing and interviewing George, and would love to share more about him.  His official bio confirms… George Zander was an activist for change for most of his life.  Starting with helping found a Community Relations Committee in High School in Seattle to help build a better relationship between high school kids and the neighborhood, he also became active singing Christmas carols, organizing and attending pot lucks and walking the neighborhood.

Moving forward, after graduating from the University of Washington, he served in the Peace Corps in Micronesia, followed by continued government work in the islands, and more coalition building and teacher training. Returning to Seattle, George jumped into local politics with coalition building, voter contact, volunteer recruitment and office management.  He was also a Travel Agent for the AAA in Washington and Southern California. George has been actively involved in Democratic Party to advance LGBT and other issues since 1974 when he was one of the first board members of Seattle’s first openly lesbian and gay lobbying organization, The Dorian Group. He has worked for dozens of issues and candidates, including Chairing the King County Democratic Party (1992-96), and coordinating Seattle efforts in conjunction with the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign.

After moving to the Desert in 1997, he helped found the Desert Stonewall Democrats and was its chair for several years. After retiring from the AAA, he worked as a local staffer for Senator Barbara Boxer for two years and continued to work on multiple campaigns for candidates and causes.  George most recently sat on the Palm Springs Police Advisory Board, the PSPD LGBT Outreach Committee, served as Vice Chair of the Warm Sands Neighborhood Organization and on the steering committee of the Desert Stonewall Democrats.  He is survived by his husband Chris Zander, and their loving cats, and greatly missed by me and people throughout the community and the world.