George William Abbott

George William Abbott was a longtime Minden attorney whose career spanned distinguished federal service and decades of private practice in Nevada. Born April 10, 1923, in Almeria, Nebraska, to Waltor and Ethelyn Minor Abbott, he earned both his bachelor's degree and his law degree from the University of Nebraska. He served in the U.S. Army as a captain in the infantry during World War II.

During the Eisenhower presidency, Mr. Abbott held a series of senior legal and administrative posts in Washington, serving as chief legal counsel to the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, assistant to Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton, chief legal officer of the U.S. Department of the Interior, and Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Public Land Management. For his federal service he received the Distinguished Service Award, the Department of the Interior's highest civilian honor, and in 1960 he was elected to the National Young Republican Hall of Fame.

He moved to Nevada in 1961 and opened his law practice in Minden, where he remained an active member of the bar. A member of the American, Nebraska and Nevada bar associations, Mr. Abbott was also a prominent figure in state Republican politics, rising from Douglas County precinct committeeman to Nevada State Republican Chairman. He served as a Nevada delegate to the 1968 Republican National Convention, managed Sen. Paul Laxalt's 1980 campaign, and served as a presidential elector for Nevada. He died January 31, 2008, at the age of 84.