Geraldine Grace “Gerry” Geischer passed away this past fall yet continues to make an impact at Milwaukee Area Technical College.
Born and raised in Milwaukee, Geischer worked as a commercial illustrator before teaching drawing classes at night at MATC. In 1972, she accepted a full-time position on the at the time all-male graphic arts faculty. When the department dean asked her to take minutes at her first department meeting, she replied: “Sorry, sir. I can’t take minutes and fully participate.”
Geischer was determined to fully participate in all she did. She taught at MATC for 30 years, influencing the lives and careers of thousands of students, traveled the globe, and, at the end, thoughtfully and generously remembered MATC in her estate plan.
Geischer died on August 26, 2023, at the age of 92. In a detailed planned gift, she directed $360,000 to the MATC Foundation Inc. to support Milwaukee PBS, the Student Emergency Grants Fund and scholarships in her memory through the Ellen and Joe Checota MATC Scholarship Program.
“We are honored to receive this ultimate gift from a beloved faculty member of MATC,” said Debbie Hamlett, vice president and general manager of Milwaukee PBS. “Planned gifts like this from Geraldine Geischer grow our decades-long commitment to serving southeastern Wisconsin viewers and create for our students a media organization that is a current and competitive learning environment.”
“With planned gifts like Ms. Geischer’s, we see firsthand how commitment to MATC’s students can continue for generations,” said Laura Bray, MATC vice president for advancement and external communications and executive director of the MATC Foundation Inc. “As fiscal steward for gifts to Milwaukee PBS and the college’s philanthropic partner managing multiple student success funds, the MATC Foundation is grateful for this remarkable faculty member’s generosity.”
Read about Gerry’s extraordinary career and commitment to others
Learn more about estate and other planned giving tools that can support MATC’s commitment to its students and community by contacting:
- Dan Mueller, Chief Development Officer, Milwaukee PBS
muelld33@matc.edu
- Ginny Finn, Chief Development Officer, MATC Foundation
finnvr@matc.edu
ABOUT MILWAUKEE PBS: Milwaukee PBS is southeastern Wisconsin’s premier non-commercial media organization. It consists of two high-definition television stations, WMVS and WMVT, and four additional digital television services. The Milwaukee PBS stations are the area’s only over-the-air source for PBS and other national public television programs, and are among the most-watched public television stations in the nation. Milwaukee PBS is a viewer-supported service of Milwaukee Area Technical College. For more information, visit www.MilwaukeePBS.org.
ABOUT MATC FOUNDATION: The MATC Foundation is the philanthropic partner of Milwaukee Area Technical College. Since 1979, it has collaborated with civic leaders, employers, regional residents, the college community and alumni to create accessible paths to family-sustaining employment through large-scale, career focused scholarships and other student financial support programs like quick-turnaround emergency grants. The Foundation’s work ultimately promotes economic opportunity for MATC students, their families and the entire region. In addition, the Foundation supports vital college initiatives and is the trusted fiscal steward for Milwaukee PBS, a viewer service of MATC. For more information, visit www.matc.edu/foundation,
ABOUT MATC: Wisconsin’s largest technical college and one of the most diverse two-year institutions in the Midwest, Milwaukee Area Technical College is a key driver of southeastern Wisconsin’s economy and has provided innovative education in the region since 1912. More than 30,000 students per year attend the college’s four campuses and community-based sites or learn online. MATC offers affordable and accessible education and training opportunities that empower and transform lives in the community. The college offers more than 180 academic programs — many that prepare students for jobs immediately upon completion and others that provide transfer options leading to bachelor’s degrees with more than 40 four-year colleges and universities.