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Donald J. Geigner, 66, of Bloomington, Ill., died at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 30, 2011, at the Bickford House in Bloomington. His memorial Mass will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday April 5, at St. Patrick Church of Merna, Bloomington, with Msgr. Gerald T. Ward officiating. Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday, April 4, at Carmody-Flynn Williamsburg Funeral Home, Bloomington, with a prayer service at 3:30 p.m. Interment will be private. Don was born Jan. 11, 1945, in Chicago, the son of Roman and Alice Burnet Geigner. He is survived by one daughter, Kimberly (Andy) Freborg of Stow, Ohio; one son, Charles T. (Josephine) Geigner of Urbana, Ill.; two grandchildren, Timothy and Anastasia; and one brother, Charles L. (Judith) Geigner of Bloomington. He was preceded in death by his parents. Don was the chief broadcast engineer for WTTW Channel 11 in Chicago for many years, retiring in 2005. He was a ham radio operator and his call sign was K9H0Q. Don was a member of the I.B.E.W. and a 50-year member of the American Radio Relay League. He also enjoyed flying and was a private pilot. Don's family would like to thank the staff at the Bickford House for all their care and support. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Community Cancer Center, Normal, Ill.
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Bob Dove
I came across this warm, less formal collection of memories of Don. -Bob Dove
http://jgeigner.blogspot.com/2011/03/rip-dad.html
RIP Dad
Thursday, March 31, 2011
My father-in-law, Don Geigner, passed away in his sleep Tuesday evening/Wednesday morning. I will forever be grateful to him and his former wife for creating the best person to ever walk into my life, their son - my husband. I'm also happy that I was able to get to know him, prickly personality and all.
Don had many hobbies he enjoyed over the years. He was first and foremost, an engineer. He had his pilot's license for many years and was a ham radio operator for all of his adult life, having participated in many a Field Day. There was talk that he asked his assisted living facility to allow him to put up an antenna on the property (I don't think they said no, but sadly, there is no antenna). My father-in-law was a former broadcast engineer for WTTW television - Channel 11 Chicago. When you come into Chicago via the Eisenhower or Stevenson expressway and you see the Sears Tower (Willis Tower I think it is now), there are two antennas on the top. He referred to the left one as "HIS antenna". And it was. I remember getting pictures in my email from the top of the Sears tower (yes, the roof of the Sears tower, not the observation deck). He could go on and on about his transmitter. But it wasn't all about electronics (just most of it). He could also talk incessantly about fishing in Squirrel Lake (Lac du Flambeau, WI) or his garden (most of his yard). Or the chemical properties of gravy. That was the first story he told me when Chuck introduced us at Punky's in Lombard. I think it was a test. I appear to have passed because he danced at our wedding.
Over the past several days we've be told about another side of him, one is family rarely saw. We were told how much he was loved by the residents and staff of Bickford House. How missed he will be. How Don could be counted on the help out his neighbors, the staff, anyone in need of help. He was proud of his daughter and son and grandchildren - he spoke of them frequently to anyone who would listen. And listen they did. Don was a great teller of stories. His brother can attest to this, so can the rest of his family and anyone else he ever came in contact with.
He is now pain-free and reunited with his special friend Janice. When he finally crossed over in the wee hours of that Tuesday evening - I imagine her saying "Donald, it's about time. Heaven is waiting for you." And that's where our sadness and happiness come clashing together. We are sorry to see him go, but so very happy that he's now at rest. His idea of Heaven may be a little different than Jan's. Heaven for him is a fishing boat with clouds above, on a dark lake, in the North Woods of Wisconsin. I'm sure Jan will understand if he holds her off, just for a few more casts.
Love you dad!
William Gibson Heller
Don and I grew up about 2 blocks from one another, his house was on the railroad track side of Maple, mine on the other side. And we both loved those CNW trains that roared thru at all hours. On our way to Lincoln School we would find and pick up parts of trains that would fall onto the tracks and haul them to his house with the goal of someday collecting enough parts to build a train car or hopefully an engine. Sadlly we never collected enough to make more than a pile of unknown parts! But we had fun scavenging and dreaming.
Don was also into experimentation. One Christmas he got a chemistry kit and a few days later together we randomly blended chemicals on lthe dining room table of his house. A match was produced and to our surprse a large white flash with lots of smoke was produced, along with a few holes in the carpet and a strong smell of burned something. We opened windows and tried to aereate as best we could, but I don't remember any further experiments after that one. We never spoke of it again, and he must have covered me as an accomplice because my parents never said anything to me about the incident. What fun, and one of those events that you ask yourself, "how did I ever survive childhood?"
Another thing that Don and I shared in our youth was Cub Scouts. His home was the gathering place for the meetings, but I don't have any recollection of anything nearly as exciting as the dining room explosion!
Bill Heller