Leo Geary Biography

• 1960 conceived a few months after mother Carol and father Mel Geary are married.
• 1961, March 11, born in Glenwood Hills hospital. Suburb of Minneapolis, MN where artist parents (then separated) lived. Mother's view. When mother works part time, Leo stays with neighbors near 7 Corners, Sue and Mike Lynch.
• 1962, Fall, moved to New York City with parents trying to get together again. Exchanges babysitting with mother of twins in Brooklyn.
• 1963, Moves with mother to East 10th Street on the Lower East Side. Leo attends pre-school while ma works at Rambusch Decorating Company as stained glass designer. Father continues living in a loft, working as architectural designer, and seeing Leo on off hours.
• 1965, Moves with Mother to Altadena, California, up Lake Street from Pasadena and Los Angeles, where mother briefly works as stained glass designer. Leo attends a pre-school there. Gets to see grandparents who live in Ventura.
• 1966, Moves to Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco. Stayed for a few months with his aunt Mary Ellen White and two cousins, Berkeley and Shaun (AKA Ocean White). Mother goes free-lance, living at 1090 Page St. where Big Brother and the Holding Company (rock band) got their start. Leo starts kindergarten at Buena Vista school, but soon joins the alternative experiment, The Shire School, where his uncle T White works. Leo gets to know aunt, uncle, and cousins who live nearby. A backpacking trip to the High Sierra mountains at 10,000 feet (the McGee pack station) introduced Leo to an area returned to many times.
• 1967, after moving to the corner of Haight St. and Laguna at the invitation of the manager who was the big brother of Big Brother band, Leo was accidently hit by car, breaking his leg and forcing bed rest up to his 7th birthday.
• 1968, A visit to dad in New York makes Leo want to move back there to be close. Ma tries Manhattan but compromises by moving to Staten Island, a ferry ride away from dad. Dad sends Leo to Downtown Community school where he instantly learns to love reading. He has a long commute by bike or bus to the ferry, boat, and bus to school.
• 1969, February 14, baby sister Elizabeth O Mlulu is born. In the summer, ma, sister, and Leo spend a few weeks at a camp in New Hampshire. From our back porch, we can see the Statue of Liberty.
• 1970, Dad moves to Minneapolis to partner in a stained glass design business, taking Leo with him. Leo goes to various schools there and spends summers with ma in Staten Island.
• 1972, Ma and sister Elizabeth drive cross-country in a U-Haul van, accompanied by ma's student Sal (Salvatore Siggia). They meet Leo's plane in St. Louis, Missouri. Adventures along the way include a visit to Baer Zome in New Mexico, Hopi indian dance at Second Mesa in Arizona, and camping at the Grand Canyon. Father is going to school, so Leo stays with mother in Berkeley California that school year. Attends an alternative school, reads voraciously, including Lord of The Rings. Bicycles to school in the Berkeley Hills, to the library, and becomes a boy scout.
• 1973, moves to Forestville, Sonoma County near the Russian River where mother is camping out prior to finding a site to build two domes. Stays at her dome site at Harmony Ranch. Leo briefly attends Forestville school before moving to Pennsylvania with his dad, who has a position at the Waldorf School. Leo writes that at last, life is perfect. So good, he stays there for two summers.
• 1975, mother is moving again, looking for a house to buy. Leo rejoins us for the summer where we are subrenting from Charlie Applen in Rio Vista, where he swims in the Russian River almost every day. In August, Leo, ma, and Aunt Mary Ellen climb Mt. Shasta and camp out there. Leo comes down singing, "Climb every mountain, follow your dream ...." and he did.
• 1976, father has moved back to New York City. Leo starts high school at the Waldorf School there. Summer, Leo comes cross-country on The Green Tortoise bus to stay with mother in Monte Rio, CA house, also close enough to the river for swimming.
• 1977, summer, Leo finishes building basement room in Monte Rio house and attends Forestville High School in the fall. He joins the Jazz band and gets amps and electric bass guitar. He decides not to return to NY and stays in California year-round. Works as maintenance person in Monte Rio grade school part time, mentored by the custodian Larry Capra. Plays guitar in Wholeo Dome.
• 1978 Junior year. Expands to local Rock and Roll group, the Russian River Allstars. Works as roofer for summer job.
• 1979, Senior year. Expands music to acoustic bass, playing with the Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC) Symphony orchestra. November, grandpa Lind dies.
• 1980, Graduates High School. Works as fire fighter in the summer, a tough job. Sister in NYC with dad. Mother in Peru. Leo crashes his car and from that time onward in the US rides a bicycle or motorcycle. Fall, starts Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC). Becomes fascinated by skin diving, getting his own gear and custom-made wet suit. We eat abalone.
• 1981, Sophomore year moves to Santa Rosa to be on his own and close to school. Remarks on the unlove displayed in the home where he rents a room. I'm warmly moved that he knows how a loving home feels.
• 1982, Fall, moves to Isla Vista in southern California, with 3 roommates to go to senior college at the University of California, Santa Barbara (USCSB). Sister spends summer and fall in St. Paul with aunt Phyllis Geary (father Mel Geary's sister). Leo rides motorcycle home to ma's family gathered in Rohnert Park in Sonoma County for Thanksgiving in November. He has an interesting job as lab assistant, learns to sail, camps in the San Padre wilderness, runs on the beach, gets into hi-tech bicycles, and does well in school.
• 1983, Senior year. May, sends Mother's Day letter with flowers. November, Ma meets Leo at grandma's in Grover City and visits Leo in Isla Vista. Leo works at Fish and Game. Also for CalPirg the bottle recycling initiative.
• 1984, Graduates BS in Marine Biology from USC. All A grades for his last report card. Father comes from NY for graduation. Leo takes bike trip from there across the country to New York City where he visits his dad. (See bike journal.) Is research assistant on a marine biology project studying tube worms by thermal vents near the Galapagos Islands. On the way, takes a bike trip in Costa Rica. (See bike journal.) The custom-developed software fails so he has to log data by hand. Becomes interested in electronics, encouraged by ma who became an electronic technician, programmer, and technical writer to the computer industry.
• 1985, starts on master's program in transducers at University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Works as carpenter.
• 1986, leaves school to work for Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and from there to become a ski bum. Plays bass in blue grass band on local radio station. Learns Macintosh computer skills from roommate. Claims he hates science. Saves for trip.
• 1987, November, leaves Utah for bicycle trip to New Zealand with college friend, John Jolly. Visits ma in Menlo Park, silicon valley, CA. (See bike journal)
• 1988, Works in adventure shop in Queenstown, NZ. Gets residency and pursues new adventures in parapenting.
• 1989, New Year's Day, writes that he's the second person (after Rob Hall) to parapente from the summit of Mt. Cook (about the elevation of Mt. Shasta). Visits California, climbs Mt. Whitney, gets belongings from Salt Lake City, sees sister in Santa Cruz, and buys two Mac computers in silicon valley. Moves to Christchurch with position as adventure advisor with park department.
• 1990, Starts Geary Graphics doing computer design work for adventure businesses. Self-publishing a newsletter, Parapente.
• 1991, March, visits US planning to work for awhile in CA. Grandma dies soon after.
• 1992, Moves into yuppie house on Mt. Pleasant with partner Robyn Macdonald. Getting established as member of graphic art group, TopMarks Design. Summer, makes fatal decision to compete in World Cup Paragliding competition in Owen's Valley, California. He was also shopping for an engagement ring and new computer equipment. On the day mother comes to see him fly, he falls 1,000 feet from the air and dies, September 24. Mother's story.
• The mortuary in Bishop cannot arrange saving any of Leo's parts for science or medicine. His body is cremated in Carson City, NV. Robyn arranges a service in New Zealand so I have his ashes sent to her.
• Leo had purchased accident insurance registered with the Public Trust to responsibly cover expenses that might result from his adventurous lifestyle. It paid for everything he owed and eventually enough for mother to take a farewell trip, following his steps in New Zealand. Robyn visits mother in California bringing a share of Leo's ashes. Nigel Wilcox of TopMarks sends copies of everything on Leo's computer and his digital media.
• A close friend of Leo's, Mike MacManaway, who was parapenting in France at the time, came to Bishop to investigate and to visit mother. He inspected the canopy and found a broken string.
• I meet a friend, who had met Leo bicycling in New Zealand. They remained friends and were to get together on this trip.
• 1993, Honored by New Zealand Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association (NZHGPA), which established the Leo Geary trophy award.

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