Passed away on April 10 at Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria, BC. She is survived by her brother’s Allan Traunweiser and Paul Traunweiser, Al’s wife Lynn and Paul’s partner Leslie, Al and Lynn’s daughter’s Kate Traunweiser and Sarah Centerwall, and her great nieces Simone and Selma Centerwall.
Born to Jack and Gerry Traunweiser on Jan. 6, 1943, she was born premature and faced health issues her entire life, but she never let that stop her from anything. She was fierce, independent, and driven to do good in the world.
She worked many years in the Victoria school district where all the children adored her until she retired. After she retired, she worked part time as a volunteer at the Royal BC Museum. Moreover, she helped other through volunteering with the Crisis Centre.
She was extremely social and had more friends than are possible to count but most notably Louise, Kaaren, Norma and Vicki who were all by her side with her family and other friends in the last week of her life.
She met most of these friends through her many years in Beta Sigma Phi Sorority and/or singing with choir groups. Her last Choir was Newcombe Choir group, but she was very active in the Victoria Choral Society her entire adult life, including helping her friend Kaaren plan the Choir’s 50th anniversary.
Some of the highlights of her life were singing at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Centre. She also travelled with her choir to sing and explore in Vietnam. In her youth, she was a star in synchronized swimming.
Everyone remembering our beloved Geralee will share that she lived her life in a very selfless way. She was known for her kindness, patience and humour. She was quick to laugh, loved her family and friends, and helped take wonderful care of her mother during her last years.
Any donations please send to the charity of your choice. She would want you to honour your own belief system.
A private family Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.
Condolences may be offered to the family below.
McCall Gardens
www.mccallgardens.com
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Nick and Jenny Close
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Eleanor Anderson I first knew Geralee when I was young and then a teenager. Her mother, Gerry, and my mother, Mable, were such good friends. My mother was often un-well, so when I was small, I spent endless hours in the Traunweiser home in Calgary, playing with Geralee. I still remember wonderful meals around their table–with Jack barbequing in the garage–even with snow falling–and serving a perfectly cooked rare roast of beef. He and Gerry were superb cooks.
When I was a teenager, because of my mother’s ill health, I and my brother, Ted, had the privilege of spending a couple of summers with them in their beautiful home in Brentwood Bay. Such generosity on their part. Geralee and I spent hours playing Monopoly, swimming off the float, jelly-fish fights, exploring, rowing, finding and drying starfish, and talking. We sometimes had the excitement of being allowed to go out salmon fishing with Jack in their boat. And then there was the clam digging excursion and the feast that followed that.
Gerry cooked for us all–3 splendid meals each day. I remember that following lunch each day, we all had to lie down for an hour for a rest, whether or not we were tired. Looking back, I wonder how she managed it.
I eventually married a Scotsman and moved to England. Geralee visited once, as did Gerry and Jack, and she and I then kept in touch with annual Christmas cards. I was always impressed with how much she did apart from her work, getting pleasure from different activities. She made the most of her life. It is lovely to read the other memories of her.
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Our Place Society Dear Traunweiser Family
We would like to thank Geralee for your thoughtful and generous support to Our Place Society over the past five years. She was able to support countless community members in their time of need. All of us at Our Place Society sends love to the family and offers our deepest condolences.
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Bob Tubman I worked at Frank Hobbs Elementary for the last three of my career as a principal. Gerry was the secretary and I always appreciated the work that she did. The phones were covered in the morning so she came in a little later so she could stay later in the afternoon doing her work and answering the phone for late calls. This helped the school run more smoothly and I thought the family would like to know how helpful that was for maintaining communications with with parents.
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Marilyn Lutzmann My condolences to all the family. I worked with Gerry at the RBCM Gift Shop for many years. It was always a pleasure to see her walk through the doors. She was fun, she was interesting and she had a lovely way with people – staff, volunteers and visitors. She will be remembered with great fondness.
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Liz Libby Gerry was such a lovely soul and although small in stature her laugh could fill a room! It was an honour to call her a friend, she shall be missed by many.
We were neighbours of Geralee (Gerry) at Cedar Shores for eight years and before that John Close was her neighbour/friend for more than forty years. Mostly we knew each other by first names. We always admired Gerry’s spunk and busyness in her comings and goings around Victoria. She told us about her longstanding relationship to Cedar Shores and we kept in touch when she moved to Berwick Royal Oak. The tributes for her in recent months have reminded us that she was indeed a very special person. Our condolences to her extended family and friends. Nick and Jenny Close