Vernon Paul Geis, age 84, of Jordan, MN, passed peacefully surrounded by family on Friday, April 1, 2022, at Friendship Village, in Bloomington, MN.
A time of gathering will be on Monday, April 11, from 4-6 pm, at Ballard-Sunder Funeral & Cremation, 4565 Pleasant Street SE, Prior Lake and on Tuesday, April 12, from 10-11, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial, at 11 am, both at St. Michael Catholic Church, 16400 Duluth Avenue SE, Prior Lake. Father Tom Walker will preside, with family acting as urn bearers. Vern will be laid to rest at St. Michael Catholic Cemetery.
Vernon Paul Geis was born on December 28, 1937, to Raymond Geis Sr. and Philomena (Krautkremer) Geis.
He grew up on a farm near Jordan, MN and was the 3 rd oldest of 7 children. Vern enjoyed helping around the farm working in the fields, milking cows, raising pigs and chickens. He attended school in Jordan, graduating with the Class of 1956. Vern enjoyed sports and was the team manager for the high school basketball team.
After high school, he studied Accounting at the MN School of Business and went on to work at Globe, Inc. as an accountant for 35 years. After business school, Vern married Darlene Haglund. Loving the farm life, he and Darlene bought a 66-acre hobby farm not far from where he grew up and started their family blessed with two children, Deb and Wayne. After Darlene passed, Vern found love again and married Margaret (Bunny) Kokx. They were blessed with a son, Kevin and 52 years of marriage.
Vern and Bunny were very involved with the LPA organization where Vern was the club’s Treasurer for many years. It was through LPA they connected with The Children’s Home Society and adopted their son Edwin, and they traveled to Guatemala to bring him home to join the family.
The farm kept the family busy with gardening, cutting trees for firewood, and raising various animals. Another hobby Vern enjoyed was collecting tractors. He had many farm tractors including Farmall, Allis-Chalmers, Oliver, John Deere, and Ford. He also had a wide collection of model tractors.
His family continued to grow when Deb married her high-school sweetheart, Chuck Busch. Vern immediately hit it off with Chuck. He said Chuck must have really liked his daughter when he came to the door for their first date passing with caution by the ferocious German Shepherd in order to introduce himself and walk Deb to the car. Deb & Chuck married in 1985 and had two beautiful daughters, Britney and Amanda. Vern celebrated Britney’s marriage to her love, Jeff Truitt and enjoyed watching them have two handsome sons, Cooper and Tucker. He enjoyed the grandchildren’s visits and watching his great-grandsons embrace the farm with excitement to visit the animals, ride on the farm tractors and play with Grandpa Vern’s model tractor collection.
About 20 years ago, Vern & Bunny turned 50 acres of their land into a Wildlife Preserve providing a protected sanctuary for wildlife. Each year more wildlife species migrate to the Preserve providing endless entertainment. He enjoyed many vacations with family and friends to Bunny’s family lake home in Osakis, destination vacations and cruises. Later in life, he enjoyed road trips and bus tours covering states coast to coast. A couple of his treasured trips were visiting his granddaughters while attending college in Lawrence, Kansas and Madison, Wisconsin. Vern loved to wear a cap, and if he wasn’t wearing his John Deere or another farm cap, he was sporting a Jayhawks or Badgers cap.
Vern had a strong Catholic faith, a strong work ethic complimented with a great sense of humor. He enjoyed life, his friends, and his family. He always looked forward to the next event and never wanted to miss anything. Last summer, Vern moved to Friendship Village of Bloomington, where he had amazing care from the care teams. While it was hard to leave the farm, he was thrilled when Deb and Chuck decided to move to the farm to enjoy country living and continue his legacy.
Forever loved, Vern will be deeply missed by children, Deb (Chuck) Busch, Ed Geis; granddaughters, Britney (Jeff) Truitt, Amanda Busch; great grandsons, Cooper, Tucker; siblings, Darlene (LeRoy) Zaun, Leon (Bonnie) Geis, Mary (Fred) Krueger, Lois (Craig) Kocon; sister-in-law, LaVerne Geis; brother-in-law, Jim (Mary) Kersting; other relatives and friends.
Welcoming Vern home in eternal rest is his wife, Darlene and their son Wayne; wife, Margaret “Bunny” and their son, Kevin; parents, Ray and Phil; siblings, Raymond “Bud” Geis and Joan Kersting.
