Dr. Jeff George didn't spend his life with patients; he invested his life in them.

That's how Jo Fannin sees George, 49, who died Wednesday in an automobile wreck, along with his 15-year-old daughter, Hannah Elizabeth Roseberry George, near Roanoke, Va.

George, a cardiothoracic surgeon, spent the majority of his career in Huntington, and last served here as professor and chief of the division of cardiothoracic surgery, department of cardiovascular medicine at Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine; co-medical director of the St. Mary's Heart Institute; and chief of cardiac surgery at St. Mary's Medical Center. He left for a position as a cardiovascular surgeon at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital nearly two years ago.

He is also the namesake of the Jeffrey George Comfort House behind St. Mary's Medical Center.

The doctor saw the need for the house and set about to make it come into being. Opening in February 2000, the facility hosts 600 families of patients annually and to date, more than 18,000 people have stayed there, Fannin said. She is the house's director.

"As long as his patients and this house go on, he lives on," Fannin said Thursday.

She said the house was something George believed was necessary for this area, and told Fannin recently there was nothing like it in the Roanoke area.

He told Fannin recently he was tired of seeing his patients' families sleeping on the floor or in chairs, or an empty bed when they could find one.

"I told him he needed to start (a house) there," Fannin said.

That, in fact, is exactly how the Comfort House came into being in Huntington.

"He told me, 'I was so stressed at seeing patients leave the floor with no place to rest, I needed to do something.'"

Fannin said George made many sacrifices, both personal and financial, to get the Comfort House built.

"It was the love of his life doing this," she said.

"It's one thing to save lives, but it's another to serve lives every day," she said of George.

He didn't just take care of people in the hospital, his church was the beneficiary of his love of God, his success and his medical knowledge.

Mike Fotos of Huntington was never a patient, but knew George through Fifth Avenue Baptist Church.

"He was a fine man," said Fotos, who described George as a tireless supporter of the church and its people.

Many folks sought his medical expertise and George made certain he answered their questions and, if necessary, pointed them toward or got them in touch with the right health care professionals, Fotos said.

A former patient, Davey Cohen of Huntington, said George did his heart bypass surgery several years ago, and commented about seeing the doctor away from the medical setting.

"He always knew who you were," said Cohen, adding patients felt more like friends of the physician.

"He was brilliant, but compassionate," Fannin said. "For some, he held your heart in his hand. Some hearts he held emotionally."

Looking at George's life, she said, "He was a man on a mission. God must have felt that mission was done and He took him home."

The accident that took George's life occurred on Interstate 81 in Botetourt County, Va., Virginia State Police said. The crash happened about 3 p.m. Wednesday on northbound I-81 between Buchanan and Natural Bridge, according to Virginia State Police 1st Sgt. John Noel.

George and his daughter were in a 2004 Chevrolet Suburban when it hit a left guardrail twice and then landed on its side in the median, Noel said. The vehicle was in flames when firefighters and police responded, Noel said.

State police may never know what caused George to veer off the road and into the guardrail, said Trooper J.K. Jessee. His investigation has determined that George was not speeding.

Several witnesses tried to help the Georges get out of the vehicle, but the fire was too intense, Jessee said. The medical examiner's office has not determined their cause of death, he said. The two were wearing seatbelts.

When George graduated from Huntington High School, he left for Duke University in North Carolina, where he majored in zoology, because, he said in a 2005 interview with The Herald-Dispatch, "they didn't offer a biology degree at the time, so we all took zoology." Four years of medical school at WVU, followed by a five-year stint in general surgery at Roanoke Memorial Hospital in Virginia and a two-year trial at the University of Louisville, had left him removed from his hometown of Huntington for almost two decades.

When his parents fell ill, George, an only child, returned to the Tri-State to care for them until the time of their deaths. By then, he had devoted a lot of blood, sweat and tears into the program at St. Mary's, and found his home in Huntington again.

Just as he impressed many folks in Huntington, George made a mark in Roanoke.

"He really hit the ground running for us," said Dr. Joseph Rowe, one of George's partners at Carilion Cardiothoracic Surgery. "He was a huge addition to our group with his experience, excellent judgment. He really fit in like a glove with us. From the first day we thoroughly enjoyed having him with us."

"He was about as laid back and easy going as you could imagine. I never saw him raise his voice or get upset with anybody for anything, even if he had good reason."

Rowe also said George was close to his daughter, Hannah.

"Whenever you talked to Jeff, she was there," Rowe said. "She was his world. He was so completely in love with her and devoted to her I think all his free time and leisure time centered around her and supporting her."

Sam Cox, head of school (or headmaster) of Faith Christian School in Roanoke, talked about the joy that Hannah George radiated.

"With Hannah the single most descriptive word that has come out today has been her smile," Cox said. "She was just always glowing with the most radiant smile on her face. No matter what the situation was. And her greatest passion in life was horses."

She was a competitive equestrian rider, and Cox said her father had taken off from work earlier to drive her to an equestrian facility Wednesday.

Last fall Hannah shattered her hip and was in a wheelchair for six weeks after a riding accident. "But typical of her she always had a smile and had a concern for others over herself," Cox said.

She was also very close to her father.

"Hannah and her father were best friends," Cox said. "They were inseparable."

Many of her fellow students on Thursday worked on cards, a scrapbook and a banner to give to George's wife, Teresa.

The Roanoke Times contributed to this report.

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