George Peter Yanos left us on the morning of Friday, May 12, 2023. Born on Nov. 22, 1946 to a nurse and carpenter in Yonkers New York, he developed a sense of family through his relationship with his grandfather that guided the rest of his life. Married to Jan Hagan on Dec. 27, 1967, they moved to Chicago and then Oak Park.
Professionally he landed at the Computer Center at the University of Illinois Chicago. Over the next several years he supported Jan in becoming a loveably dotty professor of Social Work, moved to Oak Park, and had their only child, Nora. He worked at UIC for the rest of his career, doing everything from managing the punch cards (of which he has several thousand in the basement) to the installation of a supercomputer.
Being humble, he would not say this but he didn’t argue with others when they pointed out that he truly did help invent the internet. After parting ways with the Computer Center, and after a short stint as a high school mathematics teacher, he began working with his friend at the Urban Transportation Center. While there, he delighted in helping his colleagues and derived great satisfaction by mentoring graduate students.
He and his wife lived for the rest of their almost-50-year marriage in Oak Park. He dedicated himself to working through problems, always learning (he called it being curious), loved growing tomatoes and making sketti sauce for his family. He was the person you would take great pride in making laugh, and he would only tease the people he truly cared for. He was the one you would go to when you needed something, though he didn’t recognize that in himself.
George is survived by his daughter and best friend Nora (Scott); his grandchildren, Belle, Ryan and Julia; his dogs, Dashi and Kechi; and the family of his brothers John and Paul, his nieces and nephews.
