Rita Irene Geiger

Rita Irene Geiger, age, 79, was born May 7, 1944, in Fairbury, Illinois, to Lawrence Green Geiger and Nellie Bachtold Geiger. She passed away peacefully on July 13, 2023, in Oklahoma City. She is survived by cousins Terry and Judy Bachtold of North Central Illinois and many friends.
Rita grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma and graduated from Tulsa Central High School in 1962. She graduated with a B.A. in History from the University of Arkansas in 1966. While attending college, she was a member of Alpha Chi Omega Sorority where she served as chaplain. She was a Life-Long member of Alpha Chi Omega and was active in the OKC Alumni Chapter of Rho Rho. In 2015, she was named Real.Strong.Women of Distinction Award by Alpha Chi Omega and a year later received the Alpha Chi Omega Woman of the Year by the Greater OKC Alumni Panhellenic. She was a lifetime member of the Arkansas Alumni Association and served on the Board of Directors from 2009 to 2015.
Rita began her career as a social studies teacher in 1966 in Little Rock, Arkansas. After moving to Tulsa, she taught social studies for 11 years at the secondary level in Tulsa Public Schools. She earned her Master of Educational Administration in 1976 from the University of Oklahoma.
In 1977, Rita became the Social Studies Specialist at the Oklahoma State Department of Education in OKC. While at the department, she served a year as president of the Council of State Social Studies Specialists and as president of several state organizations. In addition, she was state coordinator of the national We the People...The Citizen and the Constitution program for 15 years. Rita received a Fulbright Scholarship twice in her career- India, 1978, and Italy, 1986. She was selected for a fellowship in 1982 to spend three weeks in Japan. She received another fellowship to Japan as the Elementary Team Leader of five teachers in 1995, and the team wrote the first volume of the series titled Tora No Maki that was published by the National Council for the Social Studies.
In 1994, Rita became the Director of Social Studies and Foreign Languages for Oklahoma's Norman Public Schools. During her time in Norman, the National Social Studies Supervisors Association (NSSSA), named her the 1999 Outstanding Social Studies Supervisor. She was also elected to the NSSSA Board in 1999 and served as publications coordinator.
In 2000, Rita was selected to be one of six program authors for a national elementary social studies textbook series that was published by Scott Foreman. She also helped write the end-of-chapter activities for an Oklahoma history textbook published by Clairmont Press. Rita served and chaired several state and national curriculum committees to write social studies standards including the National Standards for Civics and Government. She also served on the Freedom of Information, Inc. Board of Directors. She was a frequent presenter at state and national conferences related to her social studies field. Rita retired from Norman Schools in 2002.
Rita has been an active member of Quail Springs Baptist Church for the past 46 years and participated in the Sanctuary Choir. She was saved when she was nine years old, and baptized at Osage Hills Baptist Church in Tulsa.
In retirement, she continued to be a life-long learner participating in educational programs sponsored by OU, and other organizations. She was the Assessment Coordinator for the National Assessment For Educational Progress in 2003 and 2004. She also was a presenter on Education for Freedom: Lessons on the First Amendment and on elementary and secondary economics curriculum. Her hobbies included traveling, reading, photography, attending the theater, and spending time with friends.
Memorials may be made to the Oklahoma Baptist Homes for Children at obhc.org. Services will be held at Smith and Kernke North May Chapel at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, July 21, 2023. She will be buried next to her parents at the Floral Haven Cemetery in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.