Obit: Geise, Howard Otto (1891 - 1981)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Geise, Berger, Rasmussen, Welde

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 3/26/1981

Geise, Howard Otto (10 January 1891 - 7 March 1981)

A former Neillsville Bank employee, Howard O. Geise, passed away in an Estelline, South Dakota, nursing home on March 7. He was 90 years old. Geise was associated with the Neillsville Bank from 1949 to 1963 when he retired.

Howard Otto Geise was born on January 10, 1891, on a farm in Clark County, South Dakota, to Otto and Louise (Berger) Geise. He grew up there and moved to Clark. He attended a business school in Watertown, South Dakota, and at the age of 18 started working for the Security Bank of Clark.

On June 30, 1915, he married Irene Rasmussen in Clark ceremonies. The couple remained in Clark for three years and then moved to Creighton, Nebraska, and then to Calumet, Iowa. In 1922, the moved to Sherburn, Minnesota, where he was associated with the Farmers State Bank. In 1945, they moved to Mt. Pleasant, Ohio, and while living there he served on the Ohio State Banking Board. In 1949, he became associated with the Neillsville Bank, staying there until his retirement in 1963. He then moved back to South Dakota and resided in Estelline since 1972.

Geise was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church and the Masonic Lodge. He served as mayor of Sherburn, Minnesota, and was listed in “Who’s Who of Minnesota” in 1941. He served on the MARTIN County, Minnesota, draft board during World War II.

The deceased is survived by one daughter, Mrs. Earl (Colleen) Welde, Treasure Island, Florida; one son, Darald, Estelline; and four grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife in 1975, two brothers and two sisters.

Geise was buried on Wednesday, March 11, after services at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Estelline.