Geraldine Ann Willwerscheid Merz
“Geri” 23 Dec 1931 – 17 Jan 2016
“I will always remember these happy times.
Siempre recordaré estes tiempos felices.”
On the 10th anniversary of her passing, we remember “Geri” Geraldine Ann Willwerscheid Merz, 23 Dec 1931 – 17 Jan 2016. Geri was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the second of three daughters of Johann and Emma (Muehlbauer) Willwerscheid. She excelled academically, receiving her bachelors degree from the College of Saint Catherine. She attended graduate school at the University of Arizona in Tucson. There she met and married Joy Jonathan Merz. She had three daughters, Marie Eliana Light, Michele Antoine Schneider, and Christalina Aurora Donovan (and Don Flynn). She had two stepdaughters, Lita Merz and Jenny Sabol.
After divorcing, Geri received her masters and her doctorate in Spanish linguistics. Her thesis was “A Phonological Study of the Spanish Spoken in La Reforma Neighborhood in Tucson, Arizona.” She was a polyglot, who spoke English, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Mandarin Chinese. She taught Spanish for a couple years as a professor at the University of Houston.
Then she flipped the script of her life, joined the Peace Corps and served in Puntarenas, Costa Rica. She loved the beach, the climate, the people, everything about la pura vida in Costa Rica. Especially their fine medical care! Geri had such wonderful friends and neighbors – especially Wilber Matarrita and Berenice Jandres without whom she would not have been safely cared for in an Hogar de Ancianos.
