I worked for Heritage Bank, Iowa for 29 years and many of those years directly with Earl Geiger.Thru those years I, mainly thru meetings and social events, met and got to know Ginny Geiger. I found Ginny to be a very caring person who would ask about my children by name and wanted to know what they were doing.She was very proud of her family and if something notable was going on in one of their lives she would share that as well.Earl and Ginny were quite the couple and had a long and very interesting life story which is too long to try to capture here and the story will continue on.

I do want to share some thoughts on Earl since I spent a lot of time working for him and my perspective is from a business relationship.I started with the bank in 1984 and it was just a few days later that I met Earl Geiger.In just a short period of time I had learned of many of his adventures and about him.What I appreciated the most about Earl was his straightforward approach to life and banking.If he had something on his mind or was upset about anything he would let me know and then ask: “You get it.” and I would say “Got it.” And then he would say “Okay, what’s next.”And the topic was rarely talked about again and we went forward in a normal manner.Moving forward was a strength for Earl as he was always wanting to know about new products or new ways to do old things.This was true when Fax Machine came into widespread use.He loved his Fax Machine.These were the Fax Machines with that roll of paper that would curl up and smell like those old “Ditto Machines” schools used to use.I would come to my office at the bank and many times on my desk would be curled up Fax’s from Earl that were handwritten and had his thoughts on something that we should do.Many of these were written in the middle of the night. Shortly after he knew I was in the office he would call and want to know my thoughts and how quickly I could implement requested changes or start-- new products. Working for Earl was sometimes challenging but never boring which became a working relationship I enjoyed.

Earl and Ginny Geiger were special people and they will be missed but they have left behind a legacy for their family as well as for the rest of us that knew them.

Randy J Wilkinson

Going through old newspaper clippings, I came across a Star Tribune article by David Kuhn dated Dec 12, 1965 that starts out like this...

I think a lot of people who did business with him would laugh in agreement with that... he was like the definition of "serial entrepreneur".  Always re-inventing and thinking of better ways to do something, his "can-do" attitude was inspiring.

He talked about how he learned a lot as a kid from riding along with his father and though I didn't appreciate it enough at the time, I can say the same. I heard a lot of his stories riding along on his visits to the banks.  In business, he cared deeply about doing the right thing for employees and customers. Treating people right is good business. His passion for ethical entrepreneurism helped inspire Rotary's Camp Enterprise, and me. I'll always treasure those lessons.