Birth date: Oct 1, 1927 Death date: Jun 1, 2015
Duane L. Geiger, 87, of Spring Hill, Florida passed away June 1, 2015. He was born in Columbiana County, Ohio to Lawrence and Grace (Elser) Geiger on October 1, 1927. During his lifetime he lived in West Mayfield and Chippewa, Pen Read Obituary
My father served with Duane in the Air Force. He considers Duane his best friend. My older brother Paul Duane Giles was named after Duane. He received a Christmas card from Duane last December in which he learned of Norma's passing. He was heartbroken. I am sure I met Duane when I was young, but only have memories of how fondly dad always speaks of him. I would really appreciate a copy of the photo of them you have here and any others you might also have. I am sorry for your loss. Blessings on all of you.
Penny's Eulogy delivered at Duane's Celebration of Life Service - Part II
So what have I learned from my Dad?
Maximize your Intelligence – Dad often told the story of how he was such a good reader in 1st grade that he was taken across the hall to read to the 3rd graders. He did so well on the military testing that he was selected and trained to be an air traffic controller at the age of 19. In his civilian life, he continued his education and testing to obtain higher levels of certification in the area of Non-Destructive Testing to the point that he had to travel around to the other plants because nobody else had the high level certification that he had. Dad was a voracious reader, keeping up on the news of the day as well as the latest novels. He was working his way through the Timber Pines library and would even go out to the public library if Timber Pines didn't have the next book in the series. Knowing that he had passed these good genes on to his offspring, he was not very accepting of anything less than straight A's from us. After my freshman year of college, I took the test at B&W to get one of the 10 summer internships that were offered to children of employees. I took this test along with 200 other college students home for the summer and when Dad asked me how I did, I was a little worried that I might have messed up and he was none too happy. When the results came back and I had placed 9th on the test and therefore scored one of the coveted summer positions, I could hardly wait for Dad to come home to tell him the great news. When he heard, he just humfed and said, “You should have been first.” Of course at the time I was heartbroken, but now I understand that he was teaching me to always expect the best from myself. “Apply yourself” and “Do it right the first time” were some of his favorite mottos.
Music Appreciation – Dad loved his music, country and big band mostly. “Yakety Sax” was his favorite song and “The Music Man” was his favorite movie. He was an excellent trumpet player in high school as evidenced by the many comments of such in his yearbook. He passed this love of music on to me as I sang in the church choir, played the handbells at church, and played clarinet in the school band. He would love to hear me “Practice” as he would say with a long “i”, and faithfully attended my marching band performances, concerts, and recitals. His encouragement is the main reason I rose to the position of 1st chair 1st clarinet by the time I was in 10th grade, and also the reason I stayed in the band all the way through high school eventhough I would have probably been more popular as a cheerleader.
And finally the biggest lesson I learned from my dad was to “Be Practical.” This was my father's guiding principal and he very much wished to instill it in his children. It was a great source of dismay anytime we did anything he viewed as impractical. I once tried to insist that not everything has to be practical, that some things can be sentimental, and he said in his booming voice, “Not for a German engineer!” This continued to be a tough lesson for me as I chased every whim, took too many risks, and made too many bad decisions. I now look back on the life so well lived by this stalwart man of purpose, and I say Dad you were right, you have proven that practicality pays.
I will miss hearing your well-thought-out opinions on the issues of the day and getting your advice on matters I am contemplating. Rest in peace, Dad, I love you.
Penny's eulogy delivered at Duane's Celebration of Life Service - Part I:
Memories of Dad and What I Learned from Him
While struggling to start this memoir of the man I admire most in this world and who lived the most orderly life of anyone I know, it seemed only fitting that I should organize my memories of my father into bullet points, so here they are:
Strong – Dad always seemed bigger than life to me: in stature, with his big booming voice, and his ability to do everything.
Self-disciplined – he lived by a very strict daily schedule of when to eat, sleep, work, and read the paper, and chores were always done on their assigned days. If I ever slept in late on a Saturday, as teenagers are inclined to do, he would say,“What, you're just getting up? I've already gotten half a day's work done!”
Hard-working – Dad worked in the lab at Babcock & Wilcox, often 7 days a week, and often going back to work after dinner. He took his obligation to provide for his family very seriously.
Fiercely independent – Dad never asked for help and never wanted to impose on anyone. He never wanted to be a burden.
Forthright – Dad didn't say a lot, but what he did say was honest and to the point. He meant what he said and he did what he said he would do.
Non-negotiable – No meant no, and no amount of pleading or crying was going to change his mind.
Neat & meticulous – Everything was always in its place. His tools in the garage were so organized that if you borrowed a screwdriver and put it back where you thought you had found it, he would come home through the garage, pass the workbench, and with his peripheral vision notice that something was out of place and say “I see someone was using my tools!”
Caring on the inside – As gruff as all this makes Dad sound on the outside, there were definitely some marshmallows to be found on the inside. Our little dog, Velvet, was probably the first to discover this. She knew he was not an animal lover and so just avoided him most of the time. But if there was a storm outside, he was the one she would approach, shaking all over, and with her big brown eyes pleading for permission to jump up onto the forbidden chair. He would note her distress, give in, and pat the chair next to him, where she would happily leap to snuggle with him. The first sign of this that I ever saw was the tear on his cheek when his mother died. Over the years more and more of these signs would appear as we girls came and went with our own lives and families. However, the ultimate sign of his caring heart was his devotion to Mom as she faced numerous health challenges in her later years.
Debby's eulogy delivered at Duane's Celebration of Life Service:
If I had to describe my father in two words, I would characterize him as a hard worker. We heard many stories as children about how he spent his summers from age 7 on picking beans in the field. Then while in high school he worked in the local garage pumping gas, fixing cars and doing whatever he was told to do. He used this after school and before school job in the garage as his excuse for letting his grades slip which we were surprised to learn when we found a copy of his high school report card on our last visit here. But we girls were never allowed to bring home anything but straight A’s. From these demanding parental expectations we also learned to work hard and to always strive to do better.
Dad was also very smart and capitalized on every opportunity. Straight out of high school he enlisted in the Air Force, scored well on his entrance exam and qualified to become an air traffic controller during the Berlin air lift. He loved the Air force and I think he would have pursued a military career, but I came along exactly 10 months after he married Mom and changed all those plans. From his accomplishments in the Air Force, I learned that if you demonstrate potential, you will earn opportunities to excel.
Dad was also very frugal. For the first two years after marriage, Mom and Dad lived in my mother’s homestead’s one room summer kitchen which had been converted into a very tiny two room apartment until he could save enough money for a very healthy down payment on his first house. When the car was running low on gas, Dad would never cross the street to get gas because that was out of the way and he would also keep driving till he found the lowest price per gallon. I often feared that we would run out of gas. To this day he also records every gas tank filling so he can track his miles per gallon and make sure the car is still operating at peak efficiency.
Dad was also a man of few words. But when he did say something it was always full of wisdom and really hit the mark. When he was driving me to church the day I was marrying Don, which was my second marriage, I commented that I felt guilty that I had spent $ 300 on my wedding suit when I had only spent $ 60 on a beautiful wedding gown 18 years earlier when I got married the first time. He simply said, well so long as you don’t do it every day. I fear I still have a lot to learn when it comes to being frugal and to being a woman of few words as I keep droning on trying to tell you about the lessons I learned from my Father.
Though Dad always expected Penny and me to do our best, he also demonstrated strong support for all of our endeavors. One example was that he showed up for all my girls’ softball games when during my era of no serious sports for girls, it was sometimes hard to even get the whole team to show up. I really appreciated seeing him at my games and from this behavior, I learned that all any of us need to excel is to know that someone cares and is watching.
Let me conclude with one final thought. While Dad was always very strict and demanding with Penny and me, when those grandkids, and especially the great grandkids came along, he really softened up. He loved holding them and always enjoyed their visits from the time they were bumbling toddlers falling down all the time until they became moody teenagers. And as I’m sure many of you personally witnessed, he developed the patience of Job to be able to take such good care of my mother in her final years. From this trait I learned that you can’t always judge a book from its cover. You have to open it up and study it carefully to find the hidden treasure inside.
One comfort that is allowing Penny and me to get through this difficult time of losing both of our parents in less than a year, is that we know they are together again and re-united with their two children who have preceded them in death: Janice and little Duane.
Debbie and Penney: Sorry to learn of your father's passing. He was well respected at B&W as well as in your mother's family. Your mother had traveled to where your father was stationed and they were married. She returned to the farm. I was visiting and we were sitting on the porch step. She said she was so happy that she was married to such a wonderful man. I was happy for her.
Your father's life touched many.
Your memory and love for him shall remain in your heart forever.
With Sincere Sympathy,
Nicholas & Claire Zengou
Deb, Pen and families. Sorry for the news of your Dad. He was always fun to be around but I do remember him being strict with you girls.
A fun time was one night after one of the Teets reunions and Duane and some of we cousins went to Duffy's and danced to the country western band. Lots of laughs. I remember El Vira was his favorite song at the time.
Cindy
