Dorothy Mae Geiger

Dorothy Geiger left the loving arms of her daughter on November 28th, 2025 in the home they shared and was received into the waiting arms of her Savior. The name Dorothy means Gift of God. She was truly that gift to every life she touched. Anyone who was blessed to know her has felt that gift. Being kind, loving, understanding and gracious were just a part of her being. She had something inside her that let her know when someone was in need. She unselfishly gave her time, encouragement and comfort to ease their struggles. Whether they needed her emotional support or their circumstances required hard work on her part they knew she was the one they could rely on. Dorothy had a strength that saw her thru her own struggles never becoming weakened by whatever she faced. She had a courage and a backbone most could only aspire to have. Whenever she displayed it she never failed in her mission but also managed to do it with grace. She was a great lady and perhaps surprising to some she loved music and she really loved to dance to the music. In her 108 years she lived through and was witness to historical events that most have had to learn about and she had an impact on more lives than can be counted.

The usual question asked of her was how she managed to live to this age. There is no simple answer. Each person is born with their own story. Genetics play a large part but also your inner spirit given by God is a huge part of the answer. Dorothy's story will not be a display of degrees or promotions or awards won…you will find a simple yet very complex life well lived. What Dorothy accomplished would be found in many hearts...not on a paper certificate. A life that I'm sure has pleased her Creator. This is some of what made Dorothy extraordinary…..

Dorothy Mae Jones was born in Rhode Island in 1917 the oldest of three children. Her early years were filled with turmoil. Even in the 1920's there was child abandonment. Her mother walked away from Dorothy and her two younger siblings. After many unstable living arrangements she and her sister and brother were able to be reunited and cared for by their father and grandparents in a very small rural village in Maryland. In 1934 as a teenager she met and married a young man working on a farm near her home. That young man was Henry Geiger. He was a transplant from Allentown, PA. He had also had a tumultuous life losing his mother at the age of eight in the 1918 flu epidemic. Looking for a better life together they moved to Sayre in 1935. As a young couple starting out during the Great Depression they made many lasting friendships with those facing similar circumstances joining together to share what they had. Soon after her life in Sayre began it was her good fortune to be unofficially adopted by George and Prudy Brundage. They loved her and she looked after them for many years until they passed. That seemed to establish a pattern in her life. God saw her goodness and put many in her path in need of the right person to trust and to lean on and she would graciously accept that mantle and see it through to the finish. Perhaps the maternal influence she was deprived of gave her the spirit to let that quality flourish in her own life. The gentle touch of her hand or a look from her warm caring eyes gave immediate comfort.

Dorothy would find her way during World War II as a mother left alone to care for her infant daughter and at the same time join with other women who were also on their own. The neighborhood became a place where they helped one another with child care and sisterhood so each could work to support the war effort. Gas ration stamps would be saved up to travel to family who also needed and offered help. Dorothy would pack up her baby and head out on her own to join family members to share what she had and accept what they had. Those few years together created a bond between Dorothy and her daughter that was never broken and only became stronger through their years together.

After the war and the return of Henry the two became three again. The three shared a great love for one another. Laughter and good times helped them construct a good home together, grow gardens together and work together volunteering and cooking at local veteran's organizations. When her daughter married she welcomed her new son-in-law with open arms. They became parents to a baby boy. Dorothy's grandson was so very important in her life. Her care and time spent with him as a child created an everlasting bond just as it had with her daughter. History would repeat itself as her grandson established his own family. Her heart was forever intertwined with each of them.

Dorothy's grandparent's home was always a place for prayer to start the day. It was also a home that expected a strong work ethic. Hers began at an early age. She worked as a young girl picking and preparing crops as the season dictated for the food canneries near her home in Maryland. She recalled picking strawberries to be sent to the city to market until she felt her back was breaking. After she became part of the Sayre community she worked before, during and after the war at Belle Knitting/Blue Swan as a packer. A talent she never lost and well used at gift giving time. Later she worked at General Shelters/Electro-Mechanical pulling cables for their panels.

Dorothy was first generation from Ireland. That heritage was important but it was the heritage she acquired through her marriage that set the tone. Pennsylvania Dutch customs and recipes and fun family gatherings were what she loved. She learned they were very accepting of Henry's young bride from Maryland and did love to tease her by speaking a language she didn't understand.

She was predeceased by her beloved husband Henry in 1972, her infant grandson Henry in 1965 and her dear son-in-law Edward Campbell in 2017. Both her sister Marion Williamson and brother Harvey Vernon Jones passed in 2009. She mourned the loss of many loved ones through the years and more recently her nephews Robert Jones, Gerald Roth, Donald Geiger, Richard Geiger, Earl Geiger and Ralph Geiger and Matthew Fortune. Godson Henry Peterpaul.

Dorothy is survived by her only child and caregiver she called her angel Marion. Her devoted and loving grandson who has stood by her always Scott and Brenda. Her warm and attentive great-grandsons Joseph and Candice and Jay and Sarah. Her gentle and caring sweet great-granddaughter Emily and her delight great-great grandson Teddy. She was happily looking forward to the birth of another great-great grandson in 2026. Tender moments shared with her led each of us to believe we were her favorite holding a place in her heart no one else could fill and truth be told each of us were. It was a reciprocal feeling...she was our favorite. As a mother and a grandmother she gave us the gift of unconditional love and we knew it. We also knew that our childhood pranks and our adult accomplishments gave her great joy. If some of those pranks went bad she wasn't beyond giving a good scolding but whatever small or grand deed we pulled off she gushed with great pride. She taught us what it was like to be unselfish and forgiving and show respect. When Scott was a small child he gave her the name Mena and it stuck. Her grandchildren and many friends have known her as Mena.

She is also survived by special nieces and nephews in the Jones family Charlotte, Nancy and Jim and Jay and Carol. In the Geiger/Roth family Marilyn and Ray, Dane and Sherry, Marlene and Tim, Ronald and Joyce, Robert, Tamara and Michael, Allen and Rosanna, Becky, Janet and Dave, Randy, Penny and Ben. Nancy and Bob and Tom and Joy. Friends she considered part of her family Mildred, Nancy, Georgia, Robin and Garry, Dr. Joe, Wayne and Chrissy, Steven and Ileah, Tommy and Renee, Darci and John, Delbert, Marie and family, Becky, Diane and Sue. To many she became their adopted mother or grandmother.

They have all looked to her as a mentor, a connection to their past, a keeper of memories, a safe haven, a source of great knowledge and a delight to converse with. She gave them the feeling to carry with them that they had been in the presence of someone who really listened and truly cared about them. For the family of her birth and the family she acquired thru marriage she has been our matriarch leaving us with a part of our heart missing but so much better for having her in it.

The picture displayed was taken on her 108th birthday. God blessed Dorothy with a beautiful smile that matched her beautiful spirit. In 108 years neither of those faded. That is what all of us who loved her will remember and cherish.

"To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die." Thomas Campbell

Dorothy was the oldest member of St. John Lutheran Church. Friends there provided her many smiles and kindnesses. During her last months she received very tender and loving care from Guthrie Hospice.

It was Dorothy's wish that a private time to share should be held when family and friends could come together. In remembrance of how she lived her life we ask that you lend a hand to someone in need with an act of kindness or a comforting word. Dorothy cherished little children and our veterans. If wishing to make a donation in her name St. Jude's Hospital, Shriner's Children's Hospital, Wounded Warriors or Tunnel to Towers would be choices to consider.

"You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Those who wish my leave condolences for the family by visiting www.tiogapointcremation.com Caring assistance is being provided by Cooley-Tioga Point Cremation & Burial Options, Inc. 802 N. Main St., Athens, PA 18810.