Spirit
A Tribute
LaRay (left) and Ginger (right) at the 2019 Hays County Master Naturalist 20th Anniversary Celebration.
“We lost an outstanding couple.” —Larry and Linda Calvert
The Hays Humm Staff
In every organization, there are people who exemplify the group’s best self. They not only do the work, they personify the mission statement, find quiet joy, and stir others to share it. LaRay and Ginger Geist were the spirit of what it is to be a Texas Master Naturalist™. The German name, Geist, means spirit.
LaRay and Ginger Geist were trained and certified in 2002 as Texas Master Naturalists through the Gulf Coast Chapter in Houston, Texas. They joined the Hays County Chapter of Texas Master Naturalist™ after moving to Wimberley in 2004. To ground themselves in the Hill Country ecosystem, the couple audited the 2005 Hays County Master Naturalist (HCMN) training classes.
When they purchased their Hays County property on Lone Man Creek near Wimberley, little did they know that their neighborhood already had and would soon have more Master Naturalists and people with wildlife exemptions. The Lone Man Creek valley at the time had been subjected to overgrazing and had feral hogs and other problems.
Some of LaRay’s and Ginger’s neighbors had already fenced out the cattle. A variety of restoration practices they learned as HCMNs were soon in use along the road. Even the tax assessor, also a Master Naturalist, met with neighbors on the road and shared the most successful practices she had picked up.
What LaRay and Ginger learned through study, careful observation, two major floods, and lots of hard work quickly found its way into real world examples of ecological principles put into practice. They shared their knowledge and experiences in online forums and presentations. They earned a reputation as subject matter experts and leaders in the work of the Chapter.
Their favorite projects often related to problems on their own land:
Cowbird control became a priority. LaRay and three other Master Naturalists bonded over their meticulous adaptation of a Texas Parks and Wildlife cowbird trap. That trap has been in operation on LaRay’s property for 15 years.
Water quality was also a concern, and for many years the couple coordinated a team of six to eight people taking water samples and checking various elements related to water quality. LaRay and Ginger also analyzed E.coli data and developed a data base for the Blanco, Lone Man Creek, and Smith Creek.
Early on, LaRay and Ginger began to visit area landowners who had requested help through Texas A&M’s AgriLife center.
More recently, they were instrumental in helping to launch the Habitat Enhancing Land Management (HELM) program, which was developed by HCMN and offers a free service to Hays County landowners.
In 2021, LaRay notified the HELM team that he would no longer be able to participate in person during site visits. He’d learned he had a serious illness, ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease), which was progressing rapidly. When Ginger had endured two bouts of cancer, LaRay had taken care of her, and now it was her turn to take care of him; she became his fulltime caretaker. They were a team.
During the November 2021 HCMN Gala, which he and Ginger could not attend, LaRay was presented with a special award: Hays County Master Naturalist Emeritus.
The short video below (produced by HCMN Bob Currie) is a testimony from Chapter members about LaRay and what he brought to HCMN and others.
LaRay promoted the Hays MN Forum and created the Hays MNPhoto Forum. He administered both sites and contributed to lively discussions as “Talon Dancer.” His insights often stemmed from his own observations and were almost always accompanied by a photo or video.
To help chapter members participate in the annual Great Backyard Bird Count, LaRay created an online educational game to train and test identification skills for LBBs, or Little Brown Birds.
LaRay researched the history of the Wimberley area from the time of the original land grants all the way until present day. He developed and shared what he’d learned in a presentation titled How We Got to Now—Settlers to Subdivisions.
LaRay with his award.
LaRay and Ginger continued to participate remotely in HCMN chapter meetings.
After Ginger’s bout with cancer, she had bought LaRay a spotting scope, which they set up in their living room. From the vantage point inside their home, they could look down on Lone Man Creek, across the canyon, and along the far high ridge on the other side of the creek. They were avid observers of wildlife and frequently posted observations and photos taken with the aid of the spotting scope. They regularly posted their observations to the Forum.
In April, 2022, Ginger spotted a couple of hawks building a nest in a treetop on the far ridge, which was fairly level from their perspective. Together, she and LaRay identified them as Zone-tailed Hawks. They began documenting the hawks’ building a nest and raising their young. Every other day or so, they shared videos and posts like these to the Forum:
April 21, 2022:
“We’ve been enjoying the aerial displays of the Red-shouldered and Zone-tailed Hawks as they soar over Lone Man Creek and the 250’ high ridge to the south. A few days ago the Red-shoulders and Zone-tails appeared to be having a heated aerial “discussion” about who owned the air space and the prime nest sites in the large trees on the steep slope. We think the Zone-tails won.”
April 22, 2022:
“Both Zone-tails have been constructing the nest. And it is already large enough for both parents to fit inside. If you look carefully you can make out the foundation of the nest, which is partially obscured by some green branches of the tree in front.
The nest is on the other side of the creek, roughly 700’ away. So I am using the scope with an iPhone adapter. At this range the depth of field is very small, which makes it difficult to get a crisp photo/video.”
Talon Dancer
“This is a shot of the ridge south of the creek taken with an iPhone from the deck. The Zone-tail nest is in the yellow oval 700+ feet away.” —TD
“This is the scope setup inside the house with an iPhone SE attached. The iPhone's camera captures the video and the Periscope HD app converts it into a WiFI RTSP stream that one of our Macs saves to disk.” —TD
LaRay and Ginger worked together to post videos about the Zone-tailed Hawks from April through early September so Chapter members could follow along.
Then on Tuesday, September 20, 2022, LaRay posted the following:
“It is with a heavy heart that I tell you that Ginger, my wife of over 50 years, died Saturday. Ginger had not fully recovered her stability after 2 bouts with cancer and the medical treatments. She fell from our carport and struck her head on a rock. Even though EMS tried valiantly, she had lost too much blood to save her.”
Talon Dancer
In February, 2023, LaRay was back online posting his observations and videos of a Red-shouldered Hawk pair.
Then an email to membership from HCMN Secretary Tracy Mock on April 20, 2023:
In the early morning hours on Wednesday (4/19), LaRay Geist’s battle with ALS ended. He was clear throughout the ordeal how much he appreciated all of the care and well wishes he received from his many friends and neighborhood family. He chose not to have any kind of service, and we are honoring his wishes. We will all miss him and his many contributions to all of our lives.
LaRay and Ginger have donated the bulk of their estate to the Nature Conservancy.
It’s pleasant to think that somewhere far and high out there, soaring effortlessly now on a summer thermal, are those two lovely spirits.
February 24, 2023
“You only get to tell one generation of Bluebonnets where you want them to grow, the next generation will tell you where they prefer.”
Talon Dancer
Contributions by many Hays County Master Naturalists. Thank you to Christine Middleton for her write-up for the 2021 November Gala Emeritus Award, photos of LaRay and his Emeritus Award by Jane Dunham, interview content from Linda and Larry Calvert, and 2021 November Gala award video by Bob Currie.