George Churchill is as feisty as ever.

The prominent and well-known Oak Harbor businessman made a miraculous recovery after six months in the hospital following a serious car crash last March. As always, he has bold opinions about everything from local politics to hospital food and doesn’t pull his punches.

He’s back to work at his property management and real estate business, Churchill Associates, and is in the process of moving it to a prime spot downtown.

“I’m up and around and raising hell,” he said, only slightly tongue-in-cheek.

Churchill, who’s married to Superior Court Judge Vickie Churchill, admits that it’s amazing he’s still alive, let alone leading his office in a major change.

“He really is a miracle,” Vickie Churchill said. “I think that all the time.”

Last March, Churchill was in a serious one-car accident on Crosby Road in Oak Harbor that left him with 18 broken ribs, a broken neck, a collapsed lung, multiple skull fractures, a broken scapula, a nearly-severed ear and a broken nose. He ended up in Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Churchill, who claims to be 69 years old, credits his wife with saving his life from doctors who wanted to “pull the plug” on him. She said it wasn’t quite so dramatic, but she definitely felt the need to advocate on his behalf a number of times.

His long road to recovery and multiple setbacks — including infections and falls — are chronicled by Vickie Churchill and their daughter on the website www.caringbridge.com

She explained that there was a time when she wasn’t sure whether he would survive and a time when she wasn’t sure he would walk again.

“Now he’s walking, driving, going to work,” she said.

“There’s a thin line to walk between encouraging him and convincing him that he cannot do too much,” she added.

Churchill said his wife is a bit of a miracle worker in her own right. While working as one of the two busy superior court judges in the county, she kept his business afloat, which meant many late nights for her.

“She was a trooper,” he said. “I really thank her.”

One lesson he learned, Churchill said, is simple: “Wear a seat belt.” On the day of the accident he drove off in a hurry because a former tenant was trying to break into a property and ended up totaling the car.

Another thing, he said, is that hospitals aren’t fun. He said six months in a hospital bed was simply horrible, though he lost 40 pounds in the process; it’s not the best way to diet, he said.

The Churchill name has become an institution in Oak Harbor. His parents moved to the city in 1954 and ran a mom-and-pop store on Pioneer Way called Churchill’s Grocery, which later became his real estate office.

He’s been in business nearly 50 years. He opened a men’s clothing store called King’s Men on Aug. 1, 1965, before going into the real estate market.

“I used to be the largest Realtor in town. Now I’m the smallest,” he said, adding that his business is now largely focused on property management.

Churchill is moving his office to a building with a history of its own. The building, 740 Pioneer Way, started out as the Everett Trust and Savings Banks and later was office of Patrick, Zylstra and Pitt law firm and was most recently attorney Christon Skinner’s office.

The office will move over the weekend and into next week. It will be open and available for rent payments on April 1. No fooling.

As for him, he said he’s got five more years of work ahead of him before he finally and officially retires.

“Vickie thinks I’m a miracle,” he said, “and that’s all that matters.”