Jean McCullough Geddes, 91, of Vero Beach, passed away Thursday, March 5, at her home in Oak Harbor.
She is survived by her son James McCullough Geddes (Annie); daughter-in-law Jan Geddes; grandchildren Jennifer Smolko (Mark), Elizabeth Geddes, step-
grandchildren Leigha Gorissen and partner Peter McDonald, Luke Gorissen (Anita), Paul Peddrick (Monica), Wendy Sears (James); and two great-grandchildren Allison and Benjamin Smolko, and seven step-great-grandchildren Emerson and Ryder McDonald, Emma, Tate and George Peddrick and Nicholas and Christopher Sears.
She was preceded in death by her husband William W. Geddes and her son William W. Geddes, Jr.
Born in 1923, she was the only daughter of James and Florence McCullough of Kittanning, Penn. She maintained a residence in Florida since 1985, first at Ocean Reef in Key Largo and then at Oak Harbor in Vero Beach since 2004.
Geddes attended Ethel Walker’s and Connecticut College for Women. She was an accomplished equestrian by the age of 20, as well as a champion golfer, having won the Delaware State Amateur Championship in 1952. She played on the Wilmington Country Club Ladies Golf team for years and was a former member of the Vicmead Hunt Club, a founding member of the Bidermann Golf Club, as well as a member of the Vero Beach Country Club, Card Sound Country Club and Ocean Reef Club. She participated as a member of one of the first People to People Golf Exchanges with China in the early 1980s.
She was also an accomplished croquet player and traveled back to Delaware to play in the annual Delaware Invitational held at the Wilmington and Bidermann Country Clubs.
But her passion in life was fishing and she traveled all over the world pursuing it. From bonefish to salmon to blue marlin and sailfish, if it swam she tried to hook it, catch it and release it. She appeared on ESPN several times while fishing in tournaments off Costa Rica. She was an honorary member of the Key Largo Angler’s Club, the first lady so honored and has a trophy named after her for fishing excellence. She was also a
member and active participant in the International Woman’s Fishing Association, having recently been named an honorary member.
Memorial contributions may be made to Romansville Family Meeting c/o PO Box 107, Wilmington, DE 19899.
For online condolences please visit www.chandlerfuneralhome.com.
Friends and family are invited to attend a Quaker funeral service at Romansville Family Meeting on Friday, March 13, 2015, at 11 a.m., on Shadyside Road just north of Strasburg Road in Romansville, Penn. A gathering of friends and family at the Four Dogs Tavern, commemorating her life, will follow the service.
