GERALDINE ‘GERRI’ NOONAN EBERSOLE
June 12, 1942 – December 4, 2021
Who was your math teacher? A math teacher extraordinaire, Mrs. Ebersole taught thousands of students during her forty-year career.
Geraldine (Gerri) Noonan Ebersole was born on June 12, 1942, in San Francisco to Harry David and Elizabeth Sheridan Noonan. She was the apple of their eye and they called her Gerri. Smart as a whip, she skipped a grade in elementary school and graduated from high school at 16 years of age. A child of many talents she enjoyed playing baseball with the neighborhood kids, who occasionally broke windows. She won multiple San Francisco Examiner trophies for free throws, played the viola in the school orchestra, competed as a member of Abraham Lincoln High School’s academic decathlon team, and beat everybody playing Cribbage, our favorite family card game. A member of the San Francisco Swim Team under the famed coach, Charlie Sava, Gerri excelled in long distance swimming.
Being ‘big sister’ to two siblings 8and 10-years younger elevated her status to ‘the mighty one’ after a canoe outing traversing rapids on the Russian River ended badly. Smacked in the face by a hefty tree branch, sister Nila blacked out and fell out of the canoe, which tipped over sending everything to the bottom of the river including Nila. Coming to, Nila remembers her hair in the grip of a strong hand pulling her up from the water. Gerri, ‘the mighty one’, saved her younger sister.
Gerri graduated from the University of California Santa Barbara in 1963 and began her teaching career in Sacramento. Being one of the best and the brightest, she was chosen to be part of the original teaching team in the magnet integrated math and science program for grades 7 thru 12 at Samuel Gompers in San Diego. The program won dozens of academic awards attracting educators from around the world. Twice Gerri coached teams that won the State of California science fair award. In the late 1980’s she moved to the foothills of the eastern Sierra-Nevada Mountain Range. Out of 600 applicants, she was chosen to teach math at Home Street Middle School in Bishop, California.
On a Sierra Club back-packing trip in the mountains, Gerri met the love of her life, Lewis Gene Ebersole. Together they traveled the world. In Germany, they bought from the factory, a brand-new orange VW bug which they joyously drove all over Europe. Their most unique experience with old world charm was aboard the RMS St. Helena Royal mail ship on a 5,239 nautical mile voyage leaving England; stopping at Ascension Island before arriving at St. Helena Island, one of the most remote islands in the world, and ending at Cape Town, South Africa. Gerri developed a nautical math curriculum for middle school based on her findings from that trip.
Always living life to the fullest, the couple took on the adventure of building a home, creating a space of beauty in which to find rest and renewal. A great hostess, she served yummy meals with bounty from her garden and lively talk around the table. She knew how to bring the wonder of the natural world to small children. Nieces and nephews recall an outing that at first seemed boring but when Aunt Gerri opened a box with collecting jars and magnifying glasses the natural world came alive.
Gene and Gerri shared a vast array of interests with an extensive library and a boundless cd collection filled with opera, jazz, classical, and folk music. Hobbies included collecting art, gardening, and the challenging task of learning how to become a beekeeper. They produced the most mouthwatering honey you ever tasted.
Gerri kept up on current events with her beloved New York Times. She did not shy away from a political discussion. A student of sociology and history, a voice for the voiceless, she could back up her point of view with facts and details from her vast knowledge base. She was passionate about solving the widening divide between the haves and the have nots in our country. She believed that education was essential to improve people’s lives. A teacher at heart, her final years were devoted to helping people prepare for the citizenship test. No one was prouder than Gerri to see her students hold that precious Naturalization Certificate.
We hear “She was so kind.” “She really helped me at a low point in my life.” Humble and generous with her time, Gerri instinctively knew how to refresh and encourage family and friends when life seemed bleak. Never desiring the spotlight, she left an impact on many.
The family wants to thank Barbara Stuhaan, Karen Keehn, Sydney Elois, and the David Esparza family for their help in the final days of her life. Their compassion and generosity will always be remembered. Gerri died from pancreatic cancer peacefully at home, surrounded by loved ones on December 4, 2021. She is preceded in death by her parents and husband. She is survived by her sisters Nila Treston (Steve) of Juneau, Alaska, and Helen Kashevaroff (Mark) of Daly City, California; her nieces and nephews, Grady Treston (Amber) and their children, Austin and Emily, and Megan Orsi (Nick) and their child, Grace, all of Juneau, Alaska; David Kashevaroff and his daughter, Arwen, of Vacaville, California; and Christina Kashevaroff of Daly City.
A Celebration of Life is planned at 1 p.m. on June 4 at the Bishop Elks Lodge on E. Line Street. Donations in her memory can be made to Chamber Music Unbound or Inyo Mono Association for the Handicapped. The family can be reached at 3620 Killewich Dr., Juneau, AK 99801.