Despot was an avid golfer at the East Ridge Country Club and a member of the Shreveport Club. Despot died after 9 p.m. on February 14, 1991, of a blood clot in his lung. He had appeared to have been in good health despite recent minor surgery. "He was fine at five minutes after nine, and then he was gone by 9:25," said Mrs. Despot, the former Pearla Tinsley (born 1928). "He was feeling great and was looking forward to going back to the golf course," she added.
Graveside services were held on February 16, 1991, at Forest Park East Cemetery in Shreveport. In addition to his wife and daughter, Rebecca, Despot was survived by his older daughter, Susan A. Despot, then of Shreveport and later of New Orleans, and two brothers, Gregory A. Despot (August 9, 1928 – May 17, 2007) and Camille C. Despot.Honorary pallbearers included Despot friend George Burton, with whom he had long labored in Republican ranks, U.S. District Judge [[Tom Stagg]]; Shreveport businessman Dalton Woods; and Dr. George A. Belchic, Jr., who with his wife, [[Harriet Belchic]], worked with Despot in Shreveport Republican circles.
Graveside services were held on February 16, 1991, at Forest Park East Cemetery in Shreveport. In addition to his wife and daughter, Rebecca, Despot was survived by his older daughter, Susan A. Despot, then of Shreveport and later of New Orleans, and two brothers, Gregory A. Despot (August 9, 1928 – May 17, 2007) and Camille C. Despot.Honorary pallbearers included Despot friend George Burton, with whom he had long labored in Republican ranks, U.S. District Judge [[Tom Stagg]]; Shreveport businessman Dalton Woods; and Dr. George A. Belchic, Jr., who with his wife, [[Harriet Belchic]], worked with Despot in Shreveport Republican circles.Within Within a month of Despot's death, Democratic Governor [[Buddy Roemer]] switched his allegiance to the Republican Party. Roemer's switch did not unite the feuding wings of the GOP. Because he supported abortion, the right-to-life contingent of the party rejected Roemer and coalesced around Congressman Clyde Cecil Holloway (1943-2016) of Rapides Parish. But few other Republicans would support Holloway. Holloway did win a preference poll among Republicans attending statewide endorsement caucuses. Also running for governor was the candidate who was anathema to party leaders: state Representative [[David Duke]] of Jefferson Parish. When all the smoke had cleared, Duke eliminated Roemer from a general election berth, and Edwin Edwards staged a fourth-term victory over the unpopular Duke.
Thereafter, the bottom fell out politically for Despot's favorite, the first President Bush. Challenged from the right by Pat Buchanan and plagued by a troubling economy, Bush failed nationally and in Louisiana as well in the 1992 elections. Both of those developments would have been especially troubling to George J. Despot had he lived.
Despot's Republican Party papers are in the archives section of Louisiana State University in Shreveport.