Joe Scarborough‘s dad was one of the most influential men in his life until his 2011 death. Fans want to know more about the Morning Joe host’s “fiercest advocate,” George Scarborough, including his job and family life.
Where Was Joe Scarborough’s Dad George From?
George was born on March 30, 1934, in Lexington, Kentucky. When he was a boy, his family moved to Miami, Florida, and San Diego, California, before eventually setting in Milton, Florida, in 1946. He graduated from Milton High School then returned to his home state, attending college at the University of Kentucky, graduating in 1956.
When Did Joe Scarborough’s Dad George Get Married?
George fell in love with Mary Joanna Clark while attending college. The two married on August 14, 1955, at Second Avenue Baptist Church in Rome, Georgia, one year before George graduated from the University of Kentucky with a B.S. degree in Business.
How Many Children Did Joe Scarborough’s Dad and Mom Have?
The couple welcomed their first child, daughter Carolyn Elizabeth Scarborough, in 1957 while George was stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia, during a brief Army stint. Son George Clark Scarborough was born in 1960 in Rome, Georgia, and Joe was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1963, as the youngest of three children.
What Did Joe Scarborough’s Dad George Do for a Living?
George had several career paths throughout his life. He worked as a manufacturing engineer for Lockheed, proudly working on the company’s C-5A, the C-130, and the L-1011 projects.
He was laid off in 1971, and Joe recalled the family’s plight in the years that followed while writing his dad’s eulogy in Politico in 2011.
“Lockheed had laid off Dad when the engine supplier critical to his project went bankrupt. As he approached his 40th birthday, my dad was out of work. I remember driving around the South with him for two years as he looked in vain for a good paying job. I remember the tears of my siblings at Christmas, the worried looks around the dinner table at nights, the $40 unemployment check that Dad got every week that allowed him to buy a bag of groceries and a tank of gas,” Joe wrote.
The day after Joe’s dad died, he discovered a diary George started on the day he lost his job. “Highlighting every job lead, every interview, every rejection notice and every hopeful possibility. He looked for a good paying job for two years but ended up taking a job without a salary, hoping that he could somehow feed his family of five on a straight commission arrangement,” Joe told readers.
“Dad’s final entry in that diary was simple. ‘With the Lord’s help, I will do well.’”
“And he did. Over the next four decades, Dad worked without ceasing, raised three children, paid our way through college and supported us without fail time and time again,” Joe shared.
In 1978, the family move to Pensacola, Florida, where George joined Mary Jo, who was working [at]**AS the Miss National Teenage pageant director. The couple helped cofound the Miss American Coed Pageant in 1983, where George served as the national director.
“My father enjoyed great worldly success. He made more money than he would have ever imagined on that day in 1971 when he was unceremoniously fired,” Joe wrote about his dad in his eulogy.
Joe Has Precious Memories of His Father
“My dad was there all the time. My dad was there every Sunday when we went to church … every Little League baseball game,” the former congressman recalled about his dad during a Morning Joe episode ahead of Father’s Day in 2019.
Joe shared a story about how he took one of his parents’ cars to college and got into a fender-bender, causing $175 in damage that he couldn’t afford to pay. He was terrified to tell his folks, but his father was so understanding.
“And he goes, ‘Oh my gosh! Well, you’re OK, right? It’s only money. It’s only a car,’” Joe explained. “But it was a small thing like that. He was always there for me, always there for his kids, and there even in difficult times as I grew older.”
The MSNBC host credited his father with influencing his career. “My dad wasn’t involved in politics, but he always loved politics,” Joe said. “And we always watched the news. There’s no doubt I got my inspiration for politics and news from him and from his example.”
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