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Lawrence Geisler
Churdan, Iowa
Lawrence J. "Larry" Geisler, age 84, died on September 11, 2017 at Methodist Hospital in Des Moines. Mass of the Christian burial will be held at 10:30 A.M. Saturday, September 16, 2017, at St. Columbkille Church in Churdan. Visitation will be held on Friday from 5 to 7 P.M. at the church with a Knights of Columbus Rosary at 6:15 P.M. and a prayer service at 6:30 P.M. Burial will be in the family plot at St. Patrick cemetery near Churdan. The Brown Funeral Home in Churdan is assisting the family.
Lawrence Jerome "Larry" Geisler, the son of Edward Geisler Sr. and Agnes Maloy Geisler, was born August 3, 1933. He attended a country school for eight years and was graduated from Churdan High School. He received degrees from Creighton and Iowa State Universities and taught for 25 years in the Marshalltown School System where he was also the head of the English Department in grades 7-12. He was involved in three summer institutes at Harvard University and was on the instructional staff of the institutes two of the three years. He had also taught at Benson High School in Omaha before moving to Marshalltown in 1964. He was one of the people instrumental in reviving the Iowa state spelling contest in 1976.
He was a frequent presenter at conventions of both the Iowa and National Council of Teachers of English and was cited twice for distinguished teaching. After taking early retirement, he returned to his boyhood home near Churdan in Greene County to live.
He was active in church, Community Theater, and political work in both Marshall and Greene counties. He served six years on the pastoral council of the Sioux City diocese, was a parish council chairman, and gave workshops in reading Scripture aloud in several churches. He was a Holy Land pilgrim at Easter of 1990 and received a life membership in the Knights of Columbus.
He played stage roles in three community theaters: Marshalltown, Greene County Players, and the Carroll Community Theater. He led literary discussions at the Churdan library for ten years and presented numerous programs in storytelling and poetry readings for organizations. A story be told on Des Moines WHO radio was a direct cause of a memorial bandstand being built in the city park in Churdan. In 1996, he received the Governor's volunteerism award for Greene County and was the first recipient of the Greene County Impact Award in 2010, given for extensive volunteer work throughout the county.
As a grade school student, he was twice the county oral reading winner and that success continued throughout his life. He was frequently invited to read at weddings, funerals, anniversaries and many other occasions.
He was preceded in death by his parents, a brother Edward Geisler, Jr., two sisters, Lucille Kersey and Hazel Geisler, a brother-in-law, Kenneth Kersey, and two nephews, Daniel and David Geisler.
He is survived by nine nieces and nephews, Sandra, Donald, and Kathleen Kersey, Sylvene Hatfield, Anne Minnehan, and Patrick, John, Jerry, and Andy Geisler. He is also survived by a sister-in-law Mary Geisler, and two additional generations of nieces and nephews.
Suggestions for memorials are the American Lung Association or the Churdan Public Library at Churdan, IA. Communications to the family may be sent to either of two nieces, Sandra Kersey at Box 213, Churdan IA, 50050 or Sylvene Hatfield, at 410 140th Street, also of Churdan.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Sponsored by the Des Moines Register.
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Please accept my condolences for your family's loss. Only God can fully understand the emotional impact of your family's loss. I pray that He provides you with much needed comfort. (Psalm 145:18,19)
September 14, 2017
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