GEORGE FRANCIS HINEY
July 11, 1959 to December 15, 2024
Anadarko, Oklahoma

George's Obituary

George was born on July 11, 1959, in Chandler, Arizona, to Frank Eugene Hiney and Mollie Katherine Angelo. He spent his early childhood in Carnegie, Oklahoma. When he reached college age, he attended Grand Canyon University, where he developed a passion for hiking in Grand Canyon National Park and took courses in desert survival. He later attended George Washington University with the intention of becoming a politician to serve his Native American community.

After college, George moved to Oklahoma City to give back to his community, serving as a student mentor with United National Indian Tribal Youth (UNITY). In 1985, he married Lois Anne Lichtenstein in Oklahoma City. Together, they had two children: George Hiney, born in August 1986, and Brian Hiney, born in October 1989.

Throughout his life, George worked a variety of jobs—landscaping, picture framing, carpentry, and home improvements—through companies such as Powers and Associates and Mittie Cooper Art Gallery. After years of physically demanding work, he moved to Anadarko and joined Riverside Indian School, first in the ACE Department and later as a home living assistant supporting tribal youth. He retired in 2023 and passed away on December 15, 2024, at the age of 65 in Shawnee, Oklahoma.

George lived a life devoted to helping tribal youth thrive. He loved working outdoors, whether tending to yard work or burning fallen tree limbs, and he enjoyed indoor projects like home renovations, where he showed great skill. He cherished the sense of community felt during the Fourth of July pow-wow held in Carnegie, Oklahoma. George was a kind, intelligent, and charitable man who treated every day as meaningful, never placing holidays above the importance of daily life.

He is survived by his sisters and brother, John Hiney, Deanna Baker, and Carol Horse; and was preceded in death by his sister, Deborah Hiney.