Harold Carl Geyer Jr. Was Raconteur Extraordinaire

Harold Carl Geyer Jr. of Chilmark died Feb. 3 on Martha's Vineyard at age 99.

Mr. Geyer was born August 16, 1905 in Boonton, N.J. to Harold Carl Geyer and Mary B. Geyer.

A Phi Beta Kappa, he graduated from Yale University in 1926 and went on to earn an MFA in its School of Architecture in 1930. Raconteur extraordinaire, poet, lecturer, painter, writer, photographer and master of etching, he first fused his varied talents while living in his beloved Troyes, France.

His first illustrated book was All Men Have Loved Thee, A Song of France. Mr. Geyer inaugurated the Etching Workshop in New York's Town Hall. After the publication of his second book, The Long Way Home, he was elected an associate of the National Academy of Design. He created over 200 etchings, many of which are exhibited in national collections in Washington and Paris. He traveled throughout Europe, South and North America and incorporating wit, photographs and personal experience lectured to appreciative audiences all over the world. He married Ina Helen Doane in 1949 and continued living in New York city and Chilmark until her retirement.

A memorial service will be held in the First Congregational Church of West Tisbury on State Road on Saturday, Feb. 12 at 11 a.m. Interment of his cremains will follow in Abel's Hill Cemetery in Chilmark. Donations may be made in his memory to the Visiting Nurse Association, P.O. Box 2568, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557.

Arrangements are under the care of the Chapman, Cole and Gleason Funeral Home in Oak Bluffs. For online guest book and information visit www.ccgfuneralhome.com.