George Macfadden Wells

GEORGE MACFADDEN "G-MAN" WELLS outfoxed ‘em for the final time when he died peacefully in his sleep during the early morning of Nov. 26, 2022. G-man's previous near-death experiences included overcoming multiple brain tumors, a pulmonary embolism, and a stroke all by age 40, none of which kept him down. His family joked that he would outlive them all because he was so stubborn, so the irony of him going peacefully is not lost on anyone who knew him. G-man was often cantankerous and demanding, laughed frequently (most often at himself), and created moments of joy – as well as a few headaches – for those he loved. Even post-stroke, G-man was a man with a plan; on family vacations, he carried a binder with a minute-by-minute itinerary for each day and internet print-outs with the details of each planned activity and meal. Before his stroke, G-man ran 14 marathons in places ranging from London, England to Dallas, Texas. Running the New York City marathon was an annual tradition for him. He also once convinced his very much not-a-runner wife, Becky, to join him for the Bay to Breakers 10K costume race in San Francisco. The pair ran dressed as The Blues Brothers, with Becky as Jake and G-man as Elwood Blues. When he went out to eat, G-man liked to arrive at a restaurant 5 minutes before it opened, well before a line formed, to get a table. When he saw that there were literally no other people at the restaurant, he'd announce, "Well, we outfoxed ‘em." In the 1980s, each year as Independence day neared, G-man would announce to his 2 young kids, Mary Kathryn and Mac, "Get in the car, we're going to blow up our friends." Then with both kids in the back seat, he would pull up in front of the homes of dear family friends, light the fuse of a string of Black Cat firecrackers, toss them out the window and into the front yard, and speed away laughing hysterically as the popping shook the whole neighborhood. His ability to outrun death was proven again by his idea of perpetually being "on a diet," which consisted of fasting completely, except for a nightly carton of ice cream and keeping a 5-pound bag of M&Ms next to his recliner. Remarkably, he was never diagnosed with diabetes despite this steady diet of ice cream and chocolate with some occasional Whole Hog BBQ, which G-man considered a protein-rich health food. He once tumbled into the hedges during a family photo shoot and shouted to the photographer from the bushes, "did you get the shot of me falling?!" His driving skills were legendary; he once managed to rear-end another car from the front when he backed into the car behind him at a stop sign while driving his kids' school carpool. He also side-swiped an 18-wheeler on the interstate, attaching his Ford Explorer to the 18-wheeler for a long stretch of highway. When it came time to teach his own kids to drive, he told them, "you want to weave in and out of the traffic and try not to use your brakes," and "you shouldn't turn your head, that's what your mirrors are for." He was a lifelong fan of James Brown's music and once in his younger days, following a James Brown concert in Little Rock, G-man successfully stalked down and knocked on James' hotel room door. James answered in his robe and with curlers in his hair. Even when his kids were totally embarrassed by him, G-man volunteered to be McGruff the Crime Dog at their school and signed them up for all the father-daughter and father-son activities. After his stroke left him unable to work, G-man began tutoring a first grader at Jefferson Elementary School once a week through a volunteer program. G-man and that student, now a grown man in his 30s, were still in regular touch at the time of his death. When G-man's grandson, Lane, came to live with him and Becky, G-man and Lane would sit at the top of their long, steep driveway and roll matchbox cars down together for hours at a time. G-man was a graduate of Hendrix College, which his dad insisted he attend. Because he didn't have a say in choosing his own university, G-man insisted his daughter go to college anywhere she chose. He also received an MBA from Southern Methodist University. Though his stroke forced him into unexpected early retirement, he was proud of his impactful career in commercial real estate, during which he helped develop the Heights Theatre, Breckenridge Village shopping center, and other commercial spaces around Little Rock. At the time of his stroke and retirement, he had been newly instated as the president of the Downtown Little Rock Partnership, which works to grow and enhance Little Rock's core. He was also a committed member of the Rotary Club of Little Rock, and G-man's peers made donations in his honor to name him a Rotary Club Paul Harris Fellow. He was nutty, unrelenting, and often difficult, but he also loved his family dearly and had a great sense of humor. He was his family's very own Clark Griswold – the main character from the National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation movie that G-man and his family loved watching together, precisely because Clark Griswold reminded them so much of G-man. He is survived by his wife of over 40 years, Becky Wells; his daughter, Mary Kathryn Wells, her husband, Chris Vinyard, and their kids, Wells, Beck, and Mary Coco Vinyard (all of Nashville, Tenn.); his grandson, Lane Wells (of Little Rock, Ark.); and his brothers, Bob Wells (of Raleigh, N.C.), John Wells (of Hot Springs, Ark.), and Bill Wells (of Louisville, Ky.). He is reunited in death with his parents, Libby and George Wells, as well as his son, George Macfadden "Mac" Wells, Jr. G-man would want to be remembered as a man of God who had strong morals, and who loved his family, as demonstrated by the fact that Becky woke the morning after his death to find that G-man had already prepped her morning coffee and left it ready for her. Details for a service in his memory will be shared once they're confirmed. Arrangements are under the direction of RuebelFuneralHome.com.