His mother died when George Jr. was one; the family moved to Louisville, Kentucky, in the 1920s, then a few years later to Chicago and finally to Los Angeles.

[6] After serving in the Marine Corps in World War II and seeing action at Iwo Jima, Elder was discharged and finished college at the University of California, Los Angeles,[7] where he also played for the UCLA baseball team.

[8] In 1947 and 1948, Elder appeared with the Toledo Mud Hens, a minor league affiliate of the St. Louis Browns.

[9] Before his death in 2022, he was one of only four living former St. Louis Browns players, along with Billy Hunter, Ed Mickelson, and Frank Saucier.

[7] Elder spent his later years as a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy and as a bailiff in a court in Santa Monica, California.

[14] Following the death of Eddie Robinson on October 4, 2021, Elder became the oldest living former major league baseball player.