Marie Barlow Geis

Marie Barlow Geis, our precious mother, wife, sister, and friend, stepped into the arms of Jesus on Sunday September 24, 2023. She was surrounded by her husband, children, and grandchildren, who held her hands and whispered words of love throughout her passing. A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday October 21, 2023, at 2:00 pm in the AgriPlex located at the Platte County Fairgrounds. A reception will follow. We ask that you wear shades of brown or gold in honor of her love of University of Wyoming athletics. Marie was born in Mobile, Alabama on December 10,1952 to the late Edward Robert and Alice Ruth (Garrett) Barlow. She was raised in a loving family with two sisters, twins Pamela and Patricia. Her childhood was spent attending school in Atlanta, Georgia; Durham and Winston- Salem, North Carolina; and Mobile, Alabama. She finished her youth and young adult life at Azalea Road Junior High and Davidson High School in Mobile, Alabama. She was a classic, young, southern lady with a bit of a wild streak: active in church, a lifeguard at church camp, a majorette in the marching band, and president of Phi Theta Gamma…yet you may find her on the weekends jumping oﬀ Alabama Point Bridge into the Gulf of Mexico with her friends. Her independent nature led her to attending college at Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa. This is where she met and fell in love with her Wyoming cowboy. Marie met Keith H. Geis in the fall of her Sophomore year. A few months later, Keith asked her to marry him - he wasn’t about to let his southern belle get away. They were married less than a year after they met and thus began the greatest adventure of a lifetime. At the young age of 19, Marie moved to Wyoming with her new husband. They both graduated from the University of Wyoming and Marie began her lifelong career in education. She spent the next forty years teaching Kindergarten through 4th Grade in Torrington, Wyoming; Geneva, Alabama; DeWitt, Iowa; Gillette, Wyoming; and Wheatland, Wyoming. In that time, they expanded their family to include Jared Zane Geis and Havely Marie (Geis) Bauersachs. Split between family in Wyoming and Alabama, Marie would take the kids on a great southern migration every summer. As soon as school was out, they would load up and head to Alabama, spending the summer with cherished grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. She always made sure her children attended the same church camp she went to as a young girl and spent as much time at Gulf Shores as possible. This is when she also instilled into her children a love of music…singing away for 3,500 miles and learning how to drum with licorice on the dashboard. Raising her children and guiding her students in their education sparked a desire in Marie to do more for her community and she began fostering children, providing them a safe home in their greatest time of need. While living in Gillette, Keith and Marie fostered over a dozen diﬀerent children. Many of them also experienced the great southern migration and still laugh about adventures that were had along the way. She was recognized with the Woman of Distinction Award, Campbell County School District Employee of the Year, and Parents of the Year during her time as an educator, parent, and foster parent. She built an incredible group of friends who got through many trying times with much laughter and music and love. As Keith and Marie settled in their final hometown of Wheatland, Wyoming, she began to find interest in new hobbies. She went back to school and received her M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction, served on the University of Wyoming Alumni Board, took up knitting, crocheting, weaving, learned a few tunes on the ukulele, and served in Chapter R, P.E.O. She loved to cruise the town with her new friends, grabbing a “pop”, and catching up on the latest small-town news and excitement. After retirement, she began traveling to South Padre Island for the winter and developed another core group of friends from all over the country. She loved to tell about the adventures on their annual “senior trip” and laughter was in abundance. It seems that everywhere Marie went, she drew people to her. She loved to visit with friends, and she loved to know about people. But the real reason why she loved to chat and make all these amazing friends…was so she could brag about her incredible children and grandchildren. Better known as Mimi to those who were closest to her, everyone knew that while she loved her husband and loved her friends…she adored her two kids and six grandkids. And she wanted everyone to know. Mimi lived a life close to Christ, displaying kindness and generosity, loyalty, humor, independence, and love - she saturated those closest to her with the same traits. And this was her greatest gift to us. While Marie was preceded in death by her parents, Ed and Alice Barlow, she is survived by her husband of Wheatland, Keith Geis; son and daughter-in-law Jared and Christina (Walton) Geis of Highlands Ranch, Colorado; daughter and son-in-law, Havely (Geis) and Tate Bauersachs of Douglas, Wyoming; six grandchildren Lucille, Lillian, and Lane (Havely) and Rachel, Rory, and Ruston (Jared); her sisters and brothers-in-law Pamela (Barlow) and Wesley Cleaveland of LaGrange, Georgia; and Patricia (Barlow) and Jackson Clark of Tallassee, Alabama; twelve nieces and nephews, numerous great nieces and nephews, and dear lifelong friends. We ask that, in lieu of flowers, please donate a gift back to the children in Marie’s name. Memorial funds have been established at Platte Valley Bank as “Mimi’s Blessings in a Backpack”. Funds will be used to provide new school shoes for children who need them, delivered in a backpack to their families. We invite you to make a donation.