Myrtle Geist, who celebrated her 103rd birthday Monday, has the uncanny ability to bounce back from illness.

By LORI VAN INGEN,

Myrtle Geist, who celebrated her 103rd birthday Monday, has the uncanny ability to bounce back from illness.

Geist twice had pneumonia that landed her in the hospital, and she had to have a pacemaker installed at age 93. She also has macular degeneration.

"Every day is a gift," her daughter, Phyllis Strittmatter, said.

Born Aug. 9, 1907, in Millersville, Geist was the first of two children of Charles Eagle and Mary Kauffman Siegler. Her younger brother is the late Harold C. Siegler.

Geist attended a one-room school in Millersville through grade eight.

She graduated in 1925 from Penn Manor High School. In her senior year, she was a member of the championship girls basketball team.

After graduation, she worked as a secretary for the Robert B. Myers insurance agency in Lancaster.

In 1948, Geist became deputy recorder of deeds in Lancaster, a position she held until she retired in 1973.

Coming from a musical family, Geist began taking piano and organ lessons as a young girl with the late Frank McConnell. She put those lessons to work during high school when she became the organist at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Millersville.

She later was the organist at St. Matthew's and Faith Reformed and substituted at Emmanuel Lutheran.

She met her husband, Allen H. Geist, through a mutual friend who knew of their shared musical interest. Geist had a group, Al Geist and the Dixieland Band, that played on WGAL.

The Geists married on June 25, 1938. They had two children, Strittmatter, and a son, Andrew L., both of Lancaster. They had no grandchildren. Her husband died in 1977.

After retirement, Geist attended the Happy Hours senior citizen group in Lancaster and joined the Melodious, a group that entertained at nursing homes. She also played the organ for the Quack Quacks.

She had to give up playing the organ just six months ago, when arthritis began affecting one of her fingers.

With AARP, Geist had the opportunity to travel to Hawaii.

The Homestead Village resident now enjoys playing bingo, with some help because of her macular degeneration.