George B. "Burt" Long

George Burton "Burt" Long, Jr. of Reading passed away after a brief illness at the Lahey Hospital, Sunday, September 8 at the age of 83.

Born in Winchester and raised in Reading, Burt was the son of George Burton and Elaine (Ruggles) Long. Having an older and younger sister, he always said he was the “Rose between two thorns”. He graduated Reading Memorial High School in 1959 and attended Leicester Junior College, after which he served in the National Guard. He worked in the family business as a salesman for building products and brick to contractors throughout Massachusetts. After the slowdown in construction they opened a retail store in Reading selling energy related products and wood/coal burning stoves.

He married and raised two sons in Reading spending countless hours coaching them in baseball and hockey. He enjoyed fishing and working in his vegetable garden. Later in life he spent many hours with his wife traveling around the state of Maine on land and water and many trips driving to Tennessee and Virginia. With his quick wit people enjoyed spending time with him. Burt was also a member of the Civil War Roundtable of Merrimack and enjoyed attending sporting events and collecting sports cards and memorabilia with his boys.

He is survived by his wife of 57 years Wanda "Candy"  (Armstrong) Long; children Andrew Long, his partner Rebecca Goodwin of Reading and Damon Long, his wife Pamela (Colburne) of North Reading; grandchildren Travis and Jordan Long; and sister Leslie Bradbury and her husband Jay. He is predeceased by sister Linda Long-O’Brien. He is also survived by many nieces and nephews.

Services for Burt are private at his request. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Burt’s memory to the Gettysburg Foundation by referring to: https://cart.gettysburgfoundation.org

For more information, www.facebook.com/BarileFamilyFuneralHome