Geis loved tap dancing, music, fishing and cooking, and he became an iconic figure in Springfield, where he established The Gary Geis School of Dance and Company in the late 1970s.
Mark Cummings, who also is a dancer, was a business partner who later married Geis.
“I really think he had an amazing sense of humor and an amazing sense of passion for dance that was infectious, and it made people gravitate towards him,” said Cummings.
His love of dance began at age 6 when he and his identical twin brother began taking tap dancing classes.
Geis had health problems in recent years but had always bounced back, Cummings said.
He underwent a quadruple bypass in May 2014 at Springfield Regional Medical Center after doctors discovered a 90 percent blockage in his heart.
Geis was featured in the Springfield News-Sun in 2015 after a comeback at the Springfield Symphony Orchestra fundraiser and just before his dancers were to perform at the biennial Dance for Four event at the Clark State Performing Arts Center.
By September of that same year, Geis was back in his Bushnell Building studio.
He was teaching several classes a week before he died, last teaching a children’s dance class on Tuesday.
“There was no stopping him. We’re all just happy he got to dance up to the very last,” Cummings said.
Geis previously lived in New York, where he worked and studied at the June Taylor School of Dance. He also once ran the American Ballet Theatre where he sat with Agnes de Mille, who according to the New York Times helped change American dance with her ballet “Rodeo” in 1942 and musical comedy with her choreography for “Oklahoma!”
He also co-directed the ballet theatre in the Virgin Islands for nine years before returning to Springfield, Cummings said.
“He was such a fan of so many varieties of music and performers of the era that he grew in, and he wanted to be like that. He was a phenomenal tap dancer. He was a good leader. You have to be a good leader to teach well,” Cummings said.
Cummings and Geis brought back The Gary Geis School of Dance and Company, a nonprofit, about 20 years ago.
The pair married Dec. 4 after Geis suffered a stroke. The pair celebrated their 20th anniversary together on Dec. 19.
His best friend, Villa Springfield CEO Bill Robinson, had known Geis for 35 years.
He described Geis a jovial and someone who was good at telling exciting stories that were often exaggerated.
“When he told a story, he told it with such passion. He really just made us laugh all the time. I have 35 years of nothing but laughs and good memories with Gary,” Robinson said.
Robinson said his friends thought Geis would outlive them all because he was so active and involved in the community.
“One thing that we loved about Gary was once Gary started laughing he tickled himself with his own laughter and made us laugh even harder … that would tickle us,” Robinson said. “It’s really going to be a huge loss for people who were really close to him and the community.”
A gathering of family and friends will be held on Tuesday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Littleton & Rue Funeral Home, where a celebration of life will be held on Wednesday at 10 a.m. Burial will follow in the Ferncliff Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Gary Geis Dance Company Endowment Fund in c/o of the Springfield Foundation, 333 N. Limestone St. #201, Springfield , OH 45503.
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