GEORGE OTTO (b. 1903; d. 1996) was described in the Philadelphia Inquirer as a “community builder.” For 40 years, George and his partner operated Penn Valley Constructors, Inc. The firm built custom homes in Bucks County, but also built pioneering, integrated communities in the region, an expression of George’s Quaker beliefs in equality and affordability.
A visionary, he built a Sunday School addition onto Newtown Friends Meeting (where he and his family were members), was a founding board member of Newtown Friends School and Chandler Hall, head of the Bucks County United Way, and founder of the Newtown Rotary Club.
He participated in many civic organizations and served many Quaker organizations at the regional, national, and international levels. George and his wife Ella were community-building partners. During their 57 years of marriage, Ella worked by his side as a founding Board member of both Chandler Hall and Pennswood. A librarian by training, she also founded the library at Newtown Friends School and worked there as the school librarian. George was one the seven Founders of Pennswood Village, offering both his literal and visionary building skills to the design, a new type of retirement facility in proximity to existing schools for young people, Newtown Friends School and George School. The Quaker governing principles, especially peacefulness and inclusion, guided the design for Pennswood. In June, 1980, George and his wife Ella moved to Pennswood, becoming one of its earliest ”pioneer residents,” where they lived until their deaths.