Patricia Geil

Patricia “Patty” Anne Geil, 92 of Salem, Oregon passed away on October 8, 2022. She was surrounded by family and friends in the days before her passing.
Patty was born on January 7, 1930 to Charles and Edith Allbritten in Fresno, California. After graduating from high school in 1948, Patty attended Pacific Bible Institute in Fresno where she met Gordon Gene Geil. The two were married in 1951 and went on to have four children – David, Clarissa, Susan and Becky. In the early years of their marriage they were involved in ministry in Fresno where they helped launch a Spanish speaking Mennonite Church; and in Alameda and Oakland where they worked for the Billy Graham Crusades. They then settled in Kingsburg, California where they raised their family before moving to West Salem in 1975.
Patty enjoyed being involved in the teaching of children and held a variety of positions in schools – first in Kingsburg and then for the Salem / Keizer school district. Her final job before she retired was as a Career Center Coordinator at South Salem High School.
As a teenager through Young Life, Patty heard the good news of Jesus Christ and accepted him as her savior. This was the beginning of her lifelong commitment as a disciple of Jesus and she joyfully shared the love of God with others throughout her life.
Together with Gordon, Patty was very involved in the activities and ministries of Salem Alliance Church including singing in the choir and teaching children’s Sunday School where she again put her passion for children’s education to use. Volunteering with Blindskills, Inc also kept her busy.
Spending time in the mountains in California was a big part of Patty’s growing up years. As a teenager she spent a summer working in Yosemite National Park and was part of a group of people establishing Hume Lake Christian Camps in the late 1940s. She enjoyed these spaces of God’s creation and felt wonder and God’s presence close by in the mountains. She had a particular experience of a guardian angel keeping her safe on a hike at Hume Lake. The sun set as she was trying to find the trail home, and she tripped and lost a shoe in the dark. After groping around for her shoe unsuccessfully she decided to sit down and wait until morning. When the sun rose her two shoes had been place beside her and the path she had been hiking down ended in a precipice just a few feet ahead.
Patty passed on these stories and her the love of the Sierra Nevada mountains to her children and grandchildren. Yosemite was the site of an annual camping trip during the years that Patty and Gordon were raising their family.
Patty was an avid reader and loved traveling, first as the adventure partner to her dad and later with Gordon and her children and grandchildren. She adventured to places such as Hawaii, London, New York, Germany, and Mexico.
Patty had a passion for supporting her grandchildren and great-grandchildren and her unconditional love for them has left a lasting impression. They would describe their grandma as adventurous, loving, brutally honest, and a little tricky. Favorite memories include trips to the coast (string cheese and singalongs all the way), clam chowder at Mo’s, April Fool’s day jokes, trips to the Gilbert House and Salem’s Riverfront Carousel, skipping rocks in the Willamette river and the 2017 Solar Eclipse at Capital Manor. Patty also made sure to be a grandma to anyone who needed one, being known lovingly as “grandma” or “grandma-extra” to extended family and friends.
Always quick with a smile, a people lover with a wonderful sense of humor, Patty enjoyed her final years at Capital Manor where she lived since 2015.
Patty was preceded in death by her husband Gordon Geil and is survived by her four children: David Geil (Connie) of Clovis, CA; Clarissa Cole of Fresno, CA; Susan Geil (Randy Neufeld) of Chicago, IL; and Rebecca Geil of Vancouver, WA as well as seven grandchildren: Shawna, Blaine, David, Dylan, Jonah, Hannah, and Kayla and seven great-grandchildren: Chloe, Aiden, Cullen, Kyra, Owen, Ostin, and Simon.
To celebrate Patty’s life, a memorial service will be held on Thursday, Oct 13 at 6:00 pm at Capital Manor, 1955 Salem Dallas Hwy NW, Salem, OR.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Patty’s memory to Salem Alliance Church https://www.salemalliance.org/give/ And for Blindskills http://www.blindskills.com/