The 2010 Triennial Reunion of GFA Will Be Held in Scarborough, Maine
June 24 - 27!
The General Meeting and Reunion of the Geer Family Association will be held on Friday through
Sunday, June 25 to 27, 2010, with an officers' meeting on Thursday evening, June 24.
See the Coming Events page for details!
 
The 2007 General Meeting and Reunion of the Geer Family Association was held June 22-24, 2007 at the Congregational
Church in Ledyard, CT.
A business meeting was held, tours of Geer homes and cemeteries were taken, and many new cousins became acquainted with each other. Here are some highlights:
 
The business meeting and programs were held in the Congregational Church in Ledyard.
 
Geer homes were open for tours, like this Geer Homestead. George Geer is buried in this little cemetery.
 
The Officers and Trustees met to propose a slate of new officers. Sam Geer gave a talk about the Geer DNA Project. For more information on this project,
click here.
Click here to see more photos of the Ledyard Reunion.
A "Great Cousins Gathering" was held in Pascagoula, Mississippi, on February 14, 2009.
The families of Frances Pearl Cockcroft Geer and Vasco R. Geer, Jr. (GFA Trustee from 1989 to 1992), met at the
Jackson-George County Regional Public Library, courtesy of their Genealogy Department and Renee Gautier Hague, Genealogy Librarian and family friend.
 
Left to right: Gary Byrd, George Kellas, Sue Ellen Byrd Moore, Janie Batty, Judi Geer Kellas, Jon "Tiger" Geer, Laura Byrd Cooley, and L.J. (Jon) Geer.
In photo at right, Gary Byrd, Laura, Sue Ellen, Janie and Len (seated) talk by Internet with Gary's niece Carolyn Bonetti, who lives in Italy.
When Frances Pearl Cockcroft Geer died in November 2006, she was the last of her family of 12 children. The following February
family members were invited to attend the "inurnment" of her ashes next to her husband, Vasco R. Geer, Jr., in the Machpelah Cemetery in Pascagoula, MS.
After the graveside ceremony, about 30 nieces, nephews and close friends went to a local restaurant to celebrates her nearly 100 years of life. At the gathering
one of the cousins said to Judi Geer Kellas, "Why do we wait for someone to die to get together?" That gave Judi and her cousin, Janie Batty, the idea that
they should have a reunion of cousins.
In attendance at the February gathering were Gary Schley Byrd - son of Pearl's sister Esther; Gary's daughters Laura Byrd Cooley, Len Byrd Murray, and
Sue Ellen Byrd Moore; Janie Batty - daughter of Gary's sister, Nelwyn Byrd Taylor; Judi Geer Kellas - daughter of Pearl & Vasco Geer, Jr.; George Kellas -
Judi's husband; Judy Geer Ewing - Judi's cousin ; Tom Ewing - Judy's husband; Jon "Tiger" Geer - Judi's cousin; L.J. (Jon) Geer - Tiger's son; Renee Gautier
Hague - family friend; Douglas Hague - Renee's husband; and Carolyn Chambliss Sharbrough Bonetti, daughter of Gary's sister Lynda Byrd Sharbrough, attended
via Internet connection from Viareggio, Italy.
 
At left: Judi Geer Kellas and Judy Geer Ewing. At right: Len Byrd Murray, Janie Batty, Renee Gautier Hague,
Laura Byrd Cooley, and Sue Ellen Byrd Moore.
To everyone's delight, Geer attendees came from far and wide. Judi Geer Kellas had thought that most people would be from her
mother's family, many of whom live in or near Pascagoula. Tiger Geer and his son, L. J., came from California, and Tom and Judy Geer Ewing came from Maine!
Tiger (Jon) is the younger of two sons of Vasco's brother, Henry Alexander Geer. It was his and Judi's first meeting since Tiger was
a small child. What a wonderful event!
Judi and Judy met over the Internet through the Geer Family Association web site. Struck by the fact that they had the same
name, Judith A. Geer, they began emailing each other, which has continued for a number of years, but they had never met in person. It was fun for both of
them to finally meet face to face. They have not yet tracked down their common Geer ancestor, but they have discovered so many things in common beside
their name that they say, "It doesn't really matter."
A reunion of the descendants of James Henderson Geer and Anna M. Fought Geer
was held in Johnstown PA in July 2008.
Above: Five generations of descendants of James Henderson Geer and Anna M. Fought Geer at the
dining room at the top of the Inclined Plane on Saturday, July 19. James Geer was the superintendent of construction on the project
to build the Inclined Plane for evacuating Johnstown residents in the event of another major flood. The group included family
members who traveled from Colorado, Florida, Maine, Tennessee, New York, Ohio, and other states. The cousins toured the Johnstown
area and several cemeteries where ancestors are buried. Pictured below are James and Anna.
 
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