Max Geller

1925 - 2022

Max Geller, of Baltimore, MD, passed away on Saturday, October 22, at the age of 97. He is survived by his beloved and devoted wife, Joyce Overbeck-Geller (nee Snyder); his beloved and adoring children, Susan (Asher) Hershkowitz, Ruth (Frank) Vernet, Irene (Greg) Hale, Judith Geller, and Ronald (Sarah) Geller; stepchildren, Stuart Galonoy and Morry Galonoy (Dennis Yuen); 12 grandchildren (Alexander, David, Naftali, Shmuel Dovid, Aron Hirsch, Moshe, Noah, Sam, Talya, Rebekah, Rachel, and Alyssa); and 21 great-grandchildren. He was previously married to Charlotte Geller (nee Notkoff). He was predeceased by his cherished parents, Rebecca and Israel Geller; and siblings, Estelle Postar, Sidney Geller, Rose Gouse and Herman Geller.

Max grew up in the Bronx, New York, and graduated from Holyoke High School in Massachusetts. At age 18 he received a full scholarship to the Cooper Union Institute but left to join the Army and in 1944 was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Army Air Corps. Max flew 22 combat missions over Eastern Europe as a B-24 navigator with the 15th Air Force, 451st Bomber Group. He was awarded the Air Medal with 2 Oak Clusters and the European-Africa-Middle East Theater Campaign Medal. After the war he graduated from City College of New York with a degree in Political Science. Max worked for the Social Security Administration until his retirement in the 1970's, and then for the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services until he retired in 2011.

Max was a talented musician who delighted his family and Baltimore audiences with his clarinet, saxophone and harmonica. As a child, his harmonica performance of Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" earned him the title of Harmonica Champion of New York City and a medal awarded by then-mayor Fiorello La Guardia. He was a brilliant clarinetist and saxophonist whose repertoire included jazz, classical and klezmer. He was a member of Charm City Klezmer for 15 years, and performed on television, radio, at the Kennedy Center, and with ensembles around Baltimore. He continued to play his harmonica until days before his death.

A funeral service will be held at Sol Levinson Funeral Home, 8900 Reisterstown Road, Pikesville, MD 21208 at 9:30 a.m. on October 25, 2022. Interment will be at Baltimore Hebrew Berrymans Lane Cemetery. Please omit flowers. Shiva will be announced at the funeral service. Contributions in his memory may be sent to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.