© Glenn

ALYCE ELIZABETH GEIS

© Published in Enid, OK. News

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Submitted by: Sylva Rhodes

ALYCE ELIZABETH GEIS

Alyce Elizabeth Geis was born at the Masonic Hospital in Cherokee, OK. on May 11, 1918, to Fred W. and Rhoda Millspaugh Hankey. She lived with her parents in Amorita, OK. until the age of 12 when the family moved to Fairview, OK. for two years. She then resided in Cherokee from 1932 to 1993 except for a short residence in Oklahoma City from 1943 to 1945. She resided at Golden Oaks Village in Enid, OK. from 1993, until her death.

Alyce married Raymond Geis on September 24, 1938, in Cherokee. She served in many departments as Sunday School teacher, the pastors’ secretary and church organist at First Baptist Church in Cherokee.

With her husband, she owned and operated the Music Shoppe in Cherokee for 12 years and later served as receptionist and bookkeeper of the Masonic Hospital and Dr. C. L. Benson.

After moving to Enid, she was endorsed by First Baptist Church and North American Mission Board as a volunteer chaplain at Integris Bass Baptist Health Center under the supervision of Dennis Treat. During her lifetime, she gave time and service to Baptist Women on Missions, Jr. Study Club, Chapter AZ, PEO, Robert Coe Chapter of DAR, Mother’s Self Culture Club, Alfalfa County Historical Society, Gideon Auxiliary, Integris Bass Baptist Health Center Auxiliary and various Golden Oaks volunteer programs, including the Busy Hands group who knitted and crocheted caps and blankets for the new babies at Integris, as well as Hope Outreach mothers. She loved teaching and mentoring young mothers in Cherokee and loved teaching her Sunday School class in Enid’s First Baptist Church.

She was preceded in death by her parents, two infant sisters, one infant brother, a sister and husband, Barbara and Truman Reno and her devoted husband, Raymond Geis.

She is survived by a son, Larry Ray of Sebastapol, CA; a daughter, Margaret E. Smith and her husband Keith of Cherokee; three grandchildren, Jeremiah of Enid; Alicia and her husband Brian Mitchell of Cherokee, and Zachariah, also of Cherokee. She is survived by three great-grandchildren, Anna, Alex and Evan Mitchell, all of Cherokee; one sister, Naomi Cullen of Cherokee; and a brother, Robert Hankey of Oklahoma City, as well as devoted nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be held Friday, December 23, at 10:30 a.m. at the First Baptist Church of Cherokee with Reverend Tom Cooksey and Shorty Unruh officiating. Burial will be in the Cherokee Municipal Cemetery under the direction of the Goodwin Funeral Home of Cherokee. Visitation at the funeral home will be today, Dec. 22, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. with the family present from 6 to 8 p.m.

A special memorial service will be held at a later date at the Golden Oaks Village Chapel.

Donations may be made in her honor to First Baptist Church of Cherokee, or the Golden Oaks Village Chapel fund. (Paid Obit 12-22-1)

Raymond Geis

11-1990

Submitted by: Tim Dotterer

Local civic leaders rites held today

Funeral services for longtime Cherokee civic leader and banker, Raymond Geis, will be held at 2 PM today (Thursday) at the First Baptist Church of Cherokee.

Officiating will be the church's current pastor, Rev. Alan Runge; former pastor, Rev. Tom Cooksey of Sayre; and Rev. Don Gurney of Georgetown, Texas, Geis' cousin.

Burial will follow in Cherokee Municipal Cemetery under the direction of Goodwin Funeral Home. The casket will be open at the funeral home and at the church following the service.

Geis, 79, was born April 1, 1911, on a homestead near Cherokee to Henry and Barbara Weigand Geis, German – speaking immigrants from Messer, Russia. He died Monday, November 12, at St. Mary's Hospital in Enid.

Educated at Northwestern Oklahoma State State University at Alva, Geis taught school at Amorita and Burlington for a number of years before assuming duties as an Alfalfa County deputy court clerk and deputy sheriff until 1942.

Geis married Alyce Elizabeth Hankey, also of Cherokee, on September 24, 1938. They lived in various homes here until 1942, when they moved to Oklahoma City, where he was employed as an accountant for Douglas Aircraft during World War II.

Upon returning to Cherokee, Geis began a 37 – year career at Farmers Exchange Bank. He retired as Executive Vice President in 1982 and remained on the Board of Directors until his death.

He joined the local Rotary Club in 1938 and was named a Paul Harris Fellow in 1988. He served on the Cherokee Board of Education, was treasurer of the United Fund, the Tuberculosis Association and CROP.

Always active in civic affairs, Geis was named Citizen of the Year in 1988 by the Cherokee Chamber of Commerce. The Cherokee Business & Professional Women's chapter named him as its Man of the Year in 1974, while he was recovering from heart surgery. He received Honorary 4–H and FFA awards recognizing his secondary career as a wheat grower.

And active member of the First Baptist Church of Cherokee, Geis served as choir director, deacon and financial secretary, as well as other posts. He was a member of Gideons International and was called upon numerous times to provide special music for weddings and funerals over the past 50 years.

He recently helped organize a local chapter of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia.

Survivors include his wife; one son, :arry R. Geis of San Francisco, California; one daughter, Mrs. Keith (Margaret) Smith of Cherokee; one brother, Edwin Geis of Cherokee; and three grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents, one sister and two brothers.

Memorials may be made through the funeral home to the Organ Fund of the First Baptist Church, Gideons of Alfalfa County and the Alfalfa County Hospital.

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