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The Wade Geery family . . . . . (give or take a couple of generations)
Descended from English and Dutch ancestry, my generation is at least second generation Americans. My maternal grandfather was named Philip H. Van Drooge, born of Dutch parents in New York City in 1900. He emigrated to the United States in 1917 and was naturalized in 1930. My paternal Grandfather (Eugene Royal ) Geery was of English ancestry and came from Kansas. They settled in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of south Texas in the late 1930's as part of a pioneer settlement of that portion of the Lone Star State. Royal and his wife Cleta raised four boys on a10 acre citrus orchard four miles north of Alamo, Texas. Jerry Lee Geery, the second oldest son, married my mother Betty Jean Van Drooge in October 1949, at the Alamo Community Church in Alamo, Texas. My parents had four sons, Allan Wade (b. 25 May 50), Patric Dana (b. 11 Dec 51), James Joseph (b. 7 Feb 53), and Michael Sean (b.18 Apr 55). Although my father died in a locomotive collision between Donna and Alamo, Texas on 5 May 1955, we lived throughout the remaining early formative years of my childhood in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of south Texas. As a pre-teenager, my family moved to Austin, Texas in 1962. There I attended and graduated from Stephan F. Austin High School in 1968. I earned a United States Army Scholarship and attended Texas A&M University, where I was a member of the Corps of Cadets. I majored in Engineering Technology, civil option, specializing in surveying. I graduated and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army on 6 May 1972; then went on to complete a career in the US Army and retired with the rank of Major in May 1992. In that same month, I earned teaching credentials from the University of Texas at El Paso and was certified to teach both elementary (all subjects) and middle school science and math.
While attending Texas A&M University as a junior, in 1970, I met my future wife (Sue) who was attending Southwest Texas State University as a freshman. We were married the following spring (8 May 1971) and raised four children. All four were born in Germany during two of the four overseas tours that I served while in the US Army. Randall Lee(b. 23 June 73), Travis Wade (b.24 Feb 76), Rebecca Kay (b.24 May 84), and Jessica Sue (b. 24 May 84). As you might suspect, the latter two children were twins. Sue and I have two grandchildren; Randall's daughter, Meghan Elizabeth born on 12 January 2000, and Jessica's daughter, Rebecca Ann, born 21 June 2009.
Sue graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Elementary Education and Early Childhood Development in May 1992. She is employed by Norfork School District as a kindergarten teacher.
Our family resides at 12975 Highway 201 South; about a half mile north of and outside the city limits of Norfork, Arkansas. We own 115 acres ( approx 40 hectares) of pasture and timber land about four miles away on the banks of the White River. Our land is bounded on the south by the White River and extends to a high bluff overlooking the railroad tracks and then about three-quarters of a mile inland.
Randy graduated, in 1991, from Eastwood High School in Ysleta, Texas, a suburb of El Paso.
Travis (a graduate of Norfork High School in 1994) graduated in 2000 from Arkansas State University, in Jonesboro, with a Bachelors of Fine Arts Degree in Studio Art. Travis then obtained a Masters of Fine Arts Degree from the University of Deleware in May 2002.
Rebecca and Jessica both graduated from Norfork High School in May 2002 and spent a year attending a foreign exchange program in Germany. Jessica graduated with an Associates Degree from Arkansas State University at Mountain Home in 2004 and Rebecca is graduated with a Bachelors of Arts in Fine Arts and Communitations degree from the University of Central Arkansas at Conway in December 2007. Both my wife and I are employed by Norfork Schools as the elementary school kindergarden and science teachers (respectively).Randy still lives in this area and has a daughter named Meghan (b. 12 Jan 2000). He works at Epoxyn.Travis resides in the area and teaches at the Baxter County Alternative School. Rebecca lives in Little Rock and works as a zone manager for Wal-Mart in the Jacksonville, Arkansas area. Jessica married Eric Holowell on 14 October 2008, in Izard County, Arkansas and they now live in Melbourne, Arkansas. They also have a daughter named Rebecca (b. 21 June 2009).
Partial Family
Tree data
Travis's Graduation,
Arkansas State University, Class of 2000
Our granddaughter
, Meghan Elizabeth, born 12 January 2000
Another of Meghan's photos, 15
Oct 2000
Mom's 70th
Birthday Party
in Bastrop, TX, 11 October 2000
Jessica's and Rebecca's High School Graduation, 17 May
2002
