Geoffrey Gebhart Dies Former Resident was 63
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- Created on Tuesday, 15 August 2023 12:19
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Geoffrey Blake Gebhart
Geoffrey Blake Gebhart, who once resided in Sitka, died in Pistoia, Italy, on July 29, 2023. He was 63.
He was born Jan. 25, 1960, in Negaunee, Michigan, the son of Donald and Olive Jean (Williams) Gebhart.
The family moved to Pueblo, Colorado, where Geoff graduated from high school and immediately joined the U.S. Coast Guard. After basic training, his first station was on the Coast Guard Cutter Clover, docked in Sitka. In 1979 he met and married Cindy Seifert in Sitka, and they had two sons, Ben and Dylan.
After Geoff left the Coast Guard, he worked in the medical field, at Sitka Community Hospital and the Pioneers Home. There he met and married Sydney Moran, who became a second mom to the boys, and still is.
They moved to Florida in 1999, and Geoff spent 11 years doing mission work in Ethiopia, teaching First Aid to ambulance drivers and CPR to nurses there.
Many years later Geoff met his last love, Giulia, and they were married in a grand pirate wedding. Soon after, the Gebharts moved to Italy, Giulia’s home.
They lived a peaceful life there, gardening and enjoying Italy’s beauty.
Geoff fought hard for a year with a lung illness, even getting a transplant. He passed away peacefully with his wife by his side, on July 29. He was 63.
Geoff was preceded in death by his parents, and leaves behind his wife and two sons, Ben and Dylan, both of Sitka.
“Mother mother Ocean, I have heard your call,
“Wanted to sail upon your waters, since I was 3 feet tall,
You’ve seen it all, you’ve seen it all.
Yes I am a pirate, 200 years too late,
The canons don’t thunder, there’s nothing to plunder, I’m an over-40 victim of fate,
Arriving too late, arriving too late.”
From “A Pirate Looks at 40” by Jimmy Buffett
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20 YEARS AGO
November 2004
Photo caption: Mary Lou Colliver presents Sitka Fire Dept. Acting Chief Dave Swearingen a check for $325 to help restore the 1926 Chevrolet fire truck originally purchased by Art Franklin. Colliver donated the money after her business, Colliver Shoes, borrowed the truck to use during Moonlight Madness. The truck is in need of an estimated $20,000 worth of restoration work, Swearingen said.
50 YEARS AGO
November 1974
Sitka Community Hospital Administrator Martin Tirador and hospital board chairman Lawrence Porter told the Assembly Tuesday about the need for a new hospital to replace the existing 18-year-old one. The cost would be about $6.89 million with $2.2 million of that required locally.
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