Manville Teen's Lovable Spirit Remembered By Dad, Fundraiser Started

MANVILLE, NJ — The bond between a father and a son is immeasurable. The same could be said about the bond between 14-year-old George Watkins, Jr. of Manville and his dad George.

"The bond we shared... he is just one of those people that comes along once in a lifetime. You just knew whatever he does in his life he would be successful," said Watkins of his son.

Watkins, Jr. was tragically killed on Tuesday night after being hit by a pickup truck as he crossed North Main Street in Manville.

On that night, Watkins said he usually picks George up after basketball practice but he wanted to stay.

"He said, 'Daddy I want to support the girls' team'," said Watkins.

George left the practice with his friends and headed to McDonald's to get food before the girls' game began when he was hit.

His death has been devastating at the Watkins home where George left behind his dad, a four-year-old brother, a 16-year-old sister, and stepmom.

"He was always there for his sister. That was his best friend. He was overprotective of her and treated her like his little sister," said Watkins. "We were all close, real close. I raised him and his sister as a single parent for the first 10 years of their lives. I raised them both by myself."

Watkins, Jr.'s birth mother had died a couple of years back and Watkins said his daughter is now reeling from the loss of her and now her brother.

Since his death, the community has rallied around the Watkins family. No one has a bad thing to say about George and it would seem as though he had touched everyone's life in some way at some point.

"He was an all-around lovable guy. All of the principals knew him and everyone knew George. Everyone liked George. If you didn't like George, you needed to look at yourself," said Watkins.

George's nickname was "Dude" and his brother would call him "Dudey."

Wherever they went, Watkins recalled random people always coming up to them yelling "Hey Dude!" Everyone was friends with George.

The lovable athlete was involved in numerous sports at Manville High School like baseball, basketball, and wrestling. George also had a passion for skateboarding and had developed an outstanding reputation in the community.

"He is a charismatic, charming, wonderful, young man and a lot of friends cared deeply about him," said Manville Superintendent Dr. Jamil Maroun.

George also aspired to be a police officer and acted as a mentor to other children in the community.

Since George's dad worked in Plainfield, he took part in the after-school Leadership Program and Plainfield's First Responders Program. He also participated in the Junior Police Academy (Queen City Mentoring Academy) which consisted of 65 cadets.

Bernel Harrison, a Plainfield Police Officer for 21 years, recently wrote a letter of recommendation for George noting that "he makes it easy to gloat about him."

"George stepped up from being a participant to a volunteer quite quickly. George is extremely intelligent and takes direction well. He always wanted to be a FBI Agent and won countless titles in our Marching and Drill competitions. This takes discipline and attention to detail," wrote Harrison. "George has a high moral compass and he's extremely focused at tasks at hand. He works great with children and shows patience with them."

George was always looking out for others, standing up to bullies, not getting caught up in the drama. He just loved everyone and everyone loved him, recalls Watkins.

A GoFundMe fundraising website has now been set up to help cover funeral expenses.

"I never got life insurance on my children, I thought it was bad luck. But you never expect a tragic accident," said Watkins.

Looking back when asked what was Watkins favorite memory of George was, he said "Just him. I was his number one fan."

Watkins continued, "He was just such a lovable person in his short 14 years of life that he had."

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