George Howard Bunting Jr., former state senator

Former Delaware State Representative and State Senator George Howard Bunting Jr., 81, passed away peacefully at his Bethany Beach home Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, surrounded by his family and loved ones. He served as a member of the Delaware General Assembly for 28 years, 12 of which were spent in the state House of Representatives from 1973 until 1975 and from 1977 until 1997. In 1996, he was elected to the state Senate upon the retirement of his old friend, longtime Senate President Pro Tempore Richard S. Cordrey.

George was born Nov. 20, 1944, the elder of the two sons of George Howard Bunting Sr., and his wife, Ida Watson Bunting. He and his younger brother, Jimmy, grew up in Frankford and attended local schools. In high school, George attended Charlotte Hall Military Academy in Southern Maryland, graduating in the early 1960s. After attending college for several years in Virginia, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in the mid-1960s and served honorably and well for three years. During the course of his service, he served in Vietnam during the early years of the Vietnam War.

He took part in extensive combat operations, being awarded both the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star for valor. He lost several friends in the course of his Vietnam service and made lifelong friendships with several others. In a 2018 Cape Gazette newspaper article, George was quoted as saying, “We were the first to take the Viet Cong kind of head-on. That part of my life was one of the main changes in my life.”

“‘We were there for each other,’ Bunting said of his fellow troops. The biggest changehe said, ‘was becoming active politically. I came back, probably with a chip on my shoulder. I was mad at my government for what we’d done,’ he said. He then points to two pictures of friends who were killed in Vietnam.”

Upon his return to civilian life from the Marine Corps, George had met a lovely young woman, Donna Gray, at an evening party in Selbyville, her hometown. Donna remembers that day vividly—it was the wedding day of her sister, Terry – Jan. 28, 1967, and Donna had gone to the party at the home of friends after Terry’s wedding.

Donna and George were married in September of that year. They enjoyed a marriage spanning almost 59 years. Their union was blessed by two sons, Clinton and Christian. In one of the saddest days of their lives as a family, Christian lost his life in a tragic accident at age 12.

After leaving the military in the late 1960s, George attended the University of Delaware for several years. He then went to work for the DuPont Company in Wilmington for several more years before coming back to the coastal area, where he started what became a successful State Farm Insurance agency in Rehoboth Beach. His family recalls that George loved people and he liked running the insurance agency because of all the people coming into the office. By the late 1970s, he had also become president of the Rehoboth Beach Chamber of Commerce, which he also enjoyed.

In the early 1980s, George decided to run for a vacant seat in the state House of Representatives. “I think I was the only Democrat in town,” he was quoted as saying in the 2018 Cape Gazette article. He won his first House race by only 50 votes. George served under five governors during his years in the General Assembly, Governors Pierre S. du Pont IV, Michael N. Castle, Thomas R. Carper, Ruth Ann Minner and Jack Markell.

In an article in a March 2012 issue of the Coastal Point newspaper, near the end of his Senate career, it was noted that, “Whether one is driving over the new Indian River Inlet Bridge, attending Delaware Tech, visiting the Veterans Home in Milford or kayaking the Assawoman Canal, it is hard not to feel the impact of State Sen. George H. Bunting and his 28 years in public office. Bunting’s tenure will come to an end this November, though, as he is not seeking re-election. And while these accomplishments are just the tip of the iceberg of his time in office, Bunting is particularly proud of them and the collaboration that turned them into reality.” The article went on to quote George as saying, “None of what I have done would be possible without the collaboration of people. I never did one thing alone.”

During much of his time in the House of Representatives, it was under Republican control, and the first two of the five governors under whom he served were Republicans. George, a lifelong Democrat, quickly came to understand the importance of compromise in getting things done. He remembered that his friend and mentor, Senator Cordrey, took him aside soon after he was elected to the General Assembly and told him, “If you want to be a success here, you have to learn to compromise.” That became a key part of George’s philosophy throughout his political career. Small-town friendships were often more important than politics in the southern Delaware of those times. Among George’s close political friends was representative and later Senator Gerald M. Hocker of Ocean View, a Republican. Although he and Senator Hocker had once run against each other, they remained friends and worked in close cooperation over the years, George in the Senate and Gerald in the House.

“Everything from the Center for the Inland Bays to the Indian River power plant to Sussex Technical High School to farmland preservation to roads has been touched by the outgoing senator,” noted the 2012 Coastal Point article. “He has served on the Senate’s Joint Finance Committee and currently sits on the Capital Bond Committee and chairs the Senate Agriculture, Senate Sunset and Senate Veterans Affairs committees. But, for Bunting, it really all boils down to helping people.”

“All the meetings, countless hours of testimony and thousands of bills – it is the daily listening to people that have needs,” George said. “Some remark that I run a social-service headquarters, but that’s OK!”

George also prided himself on having more fire companies than any other Senate district in the state. He originally had nine fire companies: Dagsboro, Frankford, Selbyville, Millville, Roxana, and Bethany Beach south of the Indian River; Rehoboth Beach and Indian River Fire Companies north of the river; and Millsboro at the head of the river. He was an honorary member of four of them – Bethany Beach, Millville, Roxana and Millsboro.

One of George’s major interests in the Senate was the coastal environment which took up so much of his district. He played an especially significant role in bringing about the construction of the new Indian River Inlet Bridge, the fourth one at that location. His former aide, now Judge Christopher Bradley, remembering George’s wry, low-key sense of humor, recalled, “I know he took pride in working to get the latest version of the Indian River Inlet Bridge built. At one point in frustration when the Kent and New Castle legislators were trying to scale it back and scale it back in funding, he told me the upstate legislators wouldn’t be content until it was made of wood.”

George continued to have a strong interest in the betterment of his community after his retirement from public life. He frequently shared his views on a variety of subjects with various Delaware governors and members of the state’s congressional delegation. Among other community service projects in which he played an active role was the establishment of a historical society in his former hometown of Selbyville. He also worked with the Selbyville Public Library to transfer ownership of the historic Senator John G. Townsend Jr. home to the new historical society.

George is survived by his beloved wife and partner of more than 58 years, Donna; by his dear son, Clinton, and daughter-in-law, Dr. Tia Bunting; by two grandchildren, Gray and Kinzie Bunting; by George’s brother, Jimmy Bunting, his wife, Diane, and their sons, Chad and Jimmy Bunting; by Donna’s sister, Terry Carey, her husband, Jimmy Carey, and their sons, Scott and Monty Carey and their families; by Donna’s brothers, Gary Gray, his wife, Jerri Ann, and their sons, Doug and Cliff, and their families, and Larry Feldman, his wife, Nancy, and their family; by George and Donna’s godsons, Phillip and Perry Townsend, and their families; and by other family members and loved ones.

A viewing will be held from 9:30 a.m. to noon, Saturday, Feb. 21, at Mariner’s Bethel Global Methodist Church, 81 Central Ave., Ocean View, followed by a Masonic funeral service beginning at noon. Following the service, George will be interred with military honors provided by Ocean View Mason-Dixon VFW Post 7234 at Prince George’s Chapel Cemetery, 32043 Ward Lane, just off Delaware Route 26, Dagsboro, a short drive from Mariner’s Bethel, where George will go home to be with his beloved younger son, Christian, who is also interred there.

The family will host a reception and dinner following the interment at the Hope Center in Ocean View, adjacent to Mariner’s Bethel. Those who do not wish to make the drive to Prince George’s may walk from the church to the Hope Center after the service to enjoy light refreshments and fellowship while awaiting the return of family and friends from the interment.

Flowers are welcome.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Melson Funeral Services, Frankford.