Dr. Robert L. Geiser

1931 - 2019

Dr. Robert L. Geiser of Wellesley, MA passed away on Friday, June 21, 2019 at the age of 87. Born in 1931, in Binghamton, New York, Bob grew up helping the family business, Binghamton Hardware but he was eager to explore other places, cultures, and ideas. He went to Colgate University which opened up opportunities to travel to Cali, Columbia and Oslo, Norway. He completed a masters at Tufts University (1955) and a PhD in Psychology at Boston University (1961). He was at the Veterans Administration of Boston doing a post-doc when he met and married Nancy Geiser, and started a family in Wellesley, MA. Bob authored books on child psychology, hosted a call-in radio show for several years, and taught at UMass Boston. He worked at a Catholic orphanage, Tufts Floating Hospital and eventually opened his own private practice in clinical child psychology. His interests were far ranging including duplicate bridge, cooking, playing piano, reading and writing short mystery stories and plays, and hosting international students. Bob created documentaries on topics of interest in his life, including Been There, Dunmore (chronicling their ongoing 18 year summer vacations with extended family and friends they first met at a campsite at Lake Dunmore, Vermont) and Swaziland | 20 Years Later (about his sons Peace Corp experience). He was ahead of the curve on adopting technology and was often working on his laptop or Facetiming with his grand- children. He was a regular at Wellesley Neighbors get-togethers and had served on the Board of Directors. He was also a long time member of the Unitarian Church in Wellesley Hills. Throughout his life, he greeted others with a smile on his face and was interested in other people. He was known for his puns, humor, and interesting conversation. Bob was the partner of Eve Slater of Wellesley, MA. He was previously married to Nancy Geiser of Natick, MA. Father to Peter, Steven (Dawn), Susan (Andrew Kinross) and Julie (Felipe Alday) and adored Grandpa / Papa to Cole and Kelsie Geiser; Katie and John Kinross; and Bruce, Tim, Jaden, and Sienna Alday. Uncle to many nieces and nephews, and cousin to Carol Evans (Will). Bob is predeceased by his son, Peter, and brothers Alan and Doug (Barbara). His parents were W. Harold and Louise Geiser. There will be a Celebration of Life for Bob in the Fall of 2019. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to: (1) National Park Foundation, 1110 Vermont Ave NW, Suite 200, Washington DC 20005 or nationalparks.org, or (2) The World Wildlife Foundation at World Wildlife Fund, 1250 24th Street NW, Washington DC 20037 or worldwildlife.org.