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WILLIAM GEIST - PALM BAY
William H. "Bill" Geist, 72, a retired supervisor, died Sunday, March 26, at home.
Mr. Geist was born in Rutherford, N.J. He came to Brevard County in 1989 from Jersey City, N.J.
. He was a former employee of Block Drug Co. in Jersey City.
Mr. Geist was a World War II veteran, having received a Purple Heart as a result of wounds received in a parachute drop on Holland.
He was a life member of the 82nd Airborne Division, and he was a Civil War buff who enjoyed the Civil War reenactments.
Mr. Geist enjoyed visiting with his granddaughters.
He was Lutheran.
Survivors include his wife, Nina Geist of Palm Bay; daughter, Nina Merciadez of Avenel, N.J.; son, William Geist Jr. of Jersey City; brother, John Geist of Satellite Beach; and two granddaughters.
Calling hour will be from 9 to 9:30 a.m. Thursday, with services following, at Fountainhead Memorial Funeral Home.
Burial will be in New Jersey. Donations may be made to Holmes Regional Hospice, 1900 Dairy Road, West Melbourne, FL 32904.
[Florida Today, Cocoa, FL, 19 Mar 1997, Wed. Page 37] |
William registered for the
draft in Lyndhurst, NJ on 22 December 1942 and was inducted into the
Army on 10 March 1943.
Pvt Geist's arrival within
the 508th is was not recorded but on 2 October 1944 Pfc Geist was
reported to be missing in action in Holland as of 18 September 1944.
That status was changed on
11 October to state he was no longer MIA but had been slightly injured
in action and was now in the 91st US General Hospital in Oxford,
England, He returned to duty with the Company on 13 November 1944.
On 7 January 1945 Pfc
Geist as again evacuated but this time he was class as a non-combat
ijury, possibly a victim of frost-bite.
On 24 March 1945 he was
transferred to the hospital's detachment of patients and did not return
to the 508th.
He was discharged on 10
February 1946.
William was buried in
Clover Leaf Memorial Park, Woodbridge (Middlesex county), New Jersey. |
