January 29, 1997

Renowned publisher, person, George Pfeiffer III, dead at 82

As a native of Merchantville, N.J., George Pfeiffer III composed a history of his hometown and then took the chronicle and serialized it into a weekly newspaper. That was his first introduction to writing and publishing.

Before his death Jan. 9, Mr. Pfeiffer's career included helping build one of the major publishing companies in the west called Sunset Magazine, and founding his own publishing company called the American West Publishing with an arrangement with the Western History Association.

Mr. Pfeiffer was a resident of Los Altos Hills from 1951 to 1994 before he moved to The Forum in Cupertino. While in Los Altos Hills he became the town historian and held discussions with town founders who included former mayor Jack Fowle, author Wallace Stegner and Florence Fava, who later became town historian.

 Before Mr. Pfeiffer moved west in 1949 to join Sunset Magazine, he started a mail order business club in Philadelphia helping Burpee Seed Co. get started in direct mail. In retirement, he spent hours teaching small non-profits the basics of mail order and publishing and taught them how to create brochures and mailing lists.

 As a volunteer, he was a consultant to Parents Helping Parents, Triton Museum, Food Bank of San Jose and Opportunities Industrial Center West.

He is survived by his wife, Louise Robertson Pfeiffer of Cupertino; daughter, Lynne Pfeiffer Spahn of Mountain View; son, Douglas Allen Pfeiffer of Gresham, Ore.; sister, Anne Ebeling of Leesburg, Fla.; brother, Howard D. Pfeiffer Jr. of Richmond, Va.; 11 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Services were held at the Foothills Congregational Church in Los Altos.

The family prefers donations be made to Parents Helping Parents, 3041 Olcott, Santa Clara, 95054, or Opportunities Industrial Center West Printing Department, 1200 O'Brien, Menlo Park.