Geraldine Patricia (Shelton) Ortz, of Templeton, PA, passed away on April 25, 2024, surrounded by those who loved her with every piece of their hearts.
She was 78 years old.
While we struggle to envision a life without her, we’ll never say goodbye because we will carry her in our hearts forever.
With great sorrow, we have lost the matriarch of our family.
The loss is immeasurable, but so is the love left behind.
Geraldine was born on August 26, 1945 in Knox, Pennsylvania.
She was raised by her loving grandparents, Stanley and Irene Miller, in Knox.
She was a graduate of Keystone High School.
Her resilience and strength carried her out of challenging beginnings.
She used these qualities to single handedly make a stable life for her three children.
She made broken look beautiful and strong look invincible.
She walked with the universe on her shoulders and made it look like a pair of wings.
Geraldine worked at Clarion University of Pennsylvania, a job in the Library Science Department, that she held with great pride and esteem for 37 years.
She reluctantly retired in 2007.
In 1986, Gerry married her long time love and companion, Terry Douglas Ortz.
They were married for 32 years until the sad day of his death in 2018.
After marriage, Terry and Gerry went on to build their home together side by side, stick by stick, from the ground up.
This became their pride and joy – even processing the trees from their very own property as accents in their home.
Geraldine spent many hours in her beautiful lawn, creating color for every season.
On any given day, you would likely find her perfecting her lawn one shrub at a time, or on her John Deere tractor mowing her incredible yard, or maybe even using her chainsaw to cut down trees.
At 78, she had more stamina and strength than most people half her age.
Geraldine is survived by her family members who will miss her every single second of their remaining lives.
These include her son James Michael Thompson of Brookville, her daughter Michele Renee Thompson (Tony) of Shippenville, and her daughter Christina Noel Zacherl Murdock (Dan) of Brookville; her grandchildren, Ashley Priester (John) of New Bethlehem, Taylor Thompson of Mayport, Jacob and Sydney Murdock (Brookville), Justie and John Thompson of Brookville; and her great grandchildren, Paige and Braden Thompson of New Bethlehem; her precious and loving sister who was by her side until Gerry took her last breath, Kathy Quinn (Gary) survives; along with their brother Tom Dymock (Kim) of Clarion.
Preceding her in death was her husband, Terry, and her siblings, Charles, David, and Dennis Wade.
The family intends to have a private memorial service.
