Georgina Frances Woodward Kelly born on November 7, 1942 to Margaret Elizabeth Horne Woodward and Lumen Barthel Woodward. She was named for her maternal grandmother Georgina Horne, and her paternal grandmother Dora Frances Woodward. Georgina has a brother, Barry, who is two years older.
Georgina loved sports and would ride bikes all day with her neighborhood friends after playing baseball in the vacant lot at 26th and Greenwood Streets. She would shoot basketballs with her friends during the day, and then pigeons and bats at night. Every morning in the summer once the boy finished their paper routes, they would throw a newspaper against the metal swing on her front porch so Georgina knew it was time to wake up and get to the lot to play baseball. She got quite good and loved playing the game.
When she was 13, Georgina and her friends were playing football on Greenwood Street. She went out for a pass, not knowing a big truck had pulled up and stopped in the street while she ran the play. She caught the pass, turned around to run, and slammed full force into the truck, knocking out her two front teeth and chipping several others. By then, widely known by her nickname, George, The Pueblo Chieftain ran her picture on the front page of the paper with the headline “George Sits on Bench with Chipped Choppers”.
Georgina, and her husband of 64 years John, are long-time donors and supporters of CSU Pueblo and the ThunderWolves Department of Athletics. They have two children, Rochelle and Todd (Laura) and three grandchildren, Dex, Trent and Jillian, every one of them alum of University of Southern Colorado/CSU Pueblo.
As a lifelong sports fan, Georgina always rooted for the underdog and, in football, understood the importance of lesser-known positions like the long snapper. George knew that without a good long snapper, the CSU Pueblo football team would be susceptible to blocked punts and field goals. She routinely asked CSU Pueblo football coaches about the recruiting status of this position and who would fill this important role for the team.
After passing away in January 2025 from a courageous 2.5-year battle with pancreatic cancer, the Georgina “George” Kelly Long-Snapper Scholarship has been established in her memory. This will ensure the successful recruitment of the position George felt so critical to the winning legacy of CSU Pueblo football.
