Former Anderson Mayor and council member dies at age 72

GEORGE FAUST

George Raymond Faust, 72, died of a massive heart attack at his home in Mesa, Ariz., on Saturday, Dec. 26, 2009, according to his wife of 28 years Mittie Hawkins.

Faust served the City of Anderson on the planning commission and city council during the 1990s.

After serving in the Navy for 30 years, Faust retired in 1985 to manage a restaurant and open a tax business in San Diego, according to his friend Jerry Hanlon.

When Faust moved to Anderson with his wife Mittie Hawkins in the late 1980s, he adopted Anderson as the hometown he never had as a career military man, Hawkins said in a telephone interview last week.

"That's when he became involved in the local community," Hawkins said. "He had a lot of respect for people in the town."

Faust was appointed to the Anderson Planning Commission in 1994, according to city documentation.

Faust served the commission until Pete Smolenski left the city council in April of 1995.

The council appointed Faust to take Smolenski's seat on the council and Faust was elected to the council uncontested in November of 1996.

He resigned in 1998.

"He was very budget oriented. He was involved very much with the city," said Anderson Mayor Butch Schaefer, who served on the council with Faust. "He was a great colleague."

Faust opened a tax and bookkeeping business at the corner of Ferry and Martha street in a building owned by Hanlon in the early 1990s, a business relationship that evolved into a close friendship, Hanlon said.

"(You) seldom have very close friends like George," Hanlon said. "We fished ... and traveled a lot."

Beyond his work as a councilman, Faust volunteered a day every week during tax season to help seniors complete their tax forms, Hawkins said.

"(Faust) acted as an accountant for many years after we opened" the Frontier Senior Center, former county supervisor Trish Clarke said last week of Faust's pro bono work at the center. "He was a good friend as well," she said.

Faust and Tony Lewis also brought the idea to host a fireworks display to the Anderson Chamber of Commerce, then-chamber president Keith Webster said last week.

About 10,000 people attended the display on July 3, 1993, at the Shasta District Fair grounds. It was the first display in Anderson in about six years, according to Valley Post archives.

Faust also volunteered with the Anderson Historical Society and served with the Lions Club.

"He was a very loving husband and a very loving father to my children," Hawkins said.

Faust left behind his wife Hawkins, as well as four step-children and several grandchildren. Faust's ashes were to be scattered at his favorite fishing areas, Hanlon said, adding no services will be performed at Faust's request.

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