Barbara Ann Geis

Barbara Ann Geis

Barbara was born in Paramus, NJ on September 10, 1946. After graduating from Pequannock High School in Pompton Plaines, she escaped from New Jersey by attending Ohio University. Receiving a BA in Education in 1968, she married and started teaching special education in rural Ohio. To continue her tour of amusingly named boroughs, she moved to Kalamazoo, MI to start a family. As a member of St. Monica’s Catholic parish, she was a dedicated parent booster and her aridly dry wit helped her to co-chair the fundraising committee for Hackett Catholic High School. Barbara was a consummate hostess, entertaining friends, families, and neighbors, always with style. She was outgoing, engaging, and cultured; working both as President of the Michigan Ballet Ensemble, and as the office manager in the Victims Assistance Office of the Kalamazoo County Prosecutor. Life brought her family to the more prosaically named Indianapolis in 1992, where she continued in her own wry style as a booster at Cathedral High School and as an office manager in a legal firm downtown. By 1998, her children were safely in college, so she and her husband Michael returned to Kalamazoo to be with their longstanding friends. After time and trials, marriages and births, retirement came in 2011 when she and Michael moved to Georgia to be closer to their grandchildren. Barbara passed on June 5, 2014, after leaving her unique and indelible mark on the lives of many. She is survived by her husband Michael; her brother Robert Lopenske and his wife Margo; her son David Geis and his wife Angela; her daughter Alyssa Myers and husband Michael, and two granddaughters, Lauren and Claire. Family and friends will be received on Thursday from 12 noon to 1:00 pm at the Rossi Funeral Home with services to follow at 1:00 pm, Rev. Fr. Edward Stafford officiating. Interment will be in Sunset Hills Burial Park. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to; The V Foundation, 106 Towerview Court, Cary, North Carolina 27513 www.jimmyv.org or the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, 4100 John R, Detroit, Michigan 48201 www.karmanos.org.

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