Larry Geresy, who became superintendent of Ottawa Hills Schools at age 32 and led the district longer than anyone before or since, died Jan. 15 at French Manor Terra senior community in Traverse City, Mich. He was 86.

He had dementia, his son Steve Geresy said.

After he retired in 1988, Mr. Geresy, formerly of Walbridge, spent winters in Florida — Winter Haven then St. Petersburg — and the rest of the year in northwest Lower Michigan near Bellaire.

The Ottawa Hills school system in its online remembrance noted that he was the longest-serving superintendent in the district’s 92-year history. He arrived to be high school principal for the 1965-66 school year; was given the added title of assistant superintendent in November, 1966, and was promoted to superintendent Aug. 1, 1967, according to the district’s account.

He retired at the end of the 1987-88 school year, after which the village honored him with an ice cream social on the high school lawn. The village named sports fields at Indian and Evergreen roads “Larry Geresy Field.” 

He returned about five years ago, at the request of a class celebrating its 50th reunion, his wife, Penny, said.

“It was delightful,” she said.

For a feature published in the winter, 2017, edition of the alumni magazine, Around These Hills, Mr. Geresy said: “I believe that students deserve first-class teachers and first-class guidance. Any student can learn, but they have to have a good teacher to teach them.”

He was competitive, as a baseball player in high school and college; on the golf course, and in hiring teachers, his son said. He recruited from districts with good test scores. He asked who the best teachers were.

“He wanted to be the best,” said his son, who is principal of the Summit Academy in Cincinnati. “If you were a good school district, he wanted to know why you were good, and he wanted to beat you.’’

Mr. Geresy told the alumni magazine that early on, he called the high school seniors to the auditorium.

“I shared my beliefs with them. I believe students deserve another chance,” he told the magazine. “If they do something wrong, you don’t hang them. But if they mess up again, there would be some serious consequences. But that didn’t happen very often. One of the biggest things in our success was the cooperation of the students. They were just nice kids.”

The school district excelled academically, had championship sports teams, and a prized music program.

“Dad hired really good people and he was proud of the successes everywhere,” his son said.

The district also was known for not calling snow days. David Baehren said that in his kindergarten-12th grade Ottawa Hills schooling, there were two — during the “Blizzard of ’78” — and his father, Dr. Paul Baehren, longtime school board president, and Mr. Geresy were responsible. 

“I remember him to be quite friendly and engaging,” Dr. David Baehren said. “He had a very steady hand. He worked well with people. He knew how to handle some of the big egos in Ottawa Hills. A lot of what he did was continuing to ensure we were providing excellent education to the kids of Ottawa Hills.”

Mr. Geresy in August, 1987, just ahead of his last school year, told The Blade that he’d just gotten a compliment from a parent.

“The man came up to me and said, ‘You’ve educated all of my children. I can’t imagine Ottawa Hills without you.’ And that’s the nicest thing you can hear,” Mr. Geresy said in 1987.

Lawrence Wayne Geresy was born Feb. 9, 1935, in Gary, Ind., to Leona and Steve Geresy. The family moved, and he was a standout baseball player at his high school in Bangor, Mich., and at Michigan State University, from which he received a bachelor’s degree in education. He had a master’s degree in administration from Western Michigan University.

He started as a junior high science teacher in Constantine, Mich., where he also was assistant varsity football coach and head baseball and basketball coach. He was Constantine High School principal when he was hired in 1963 to be the first principal of Northwood High School, which was replacing Olney High School. During his Northwood tenure, he was president of the Wood County and the northwest Ohio associations of secondary school principals.

His fishing feats included an 8-pound smallmouth bass caught in Lake Bellaire and many walleye from Lake Erie, several of which were mounted and displayed in his Ottawa Hills office. Until recent years, he played golf at least twice a week, his son said.

His marriage to Patsy Purcell Geresy ended in divorce. He later married the former Penelope Roth “Pennie” Bamford. She died July 27, 2007.

Surviving are his wife, Penny Rogers Geresy, whom he married in 2015; sons Steve Geresy and Scott Geresy; daughter, Stephani Shivers; stepdaughter Becky Robinson; stepson, Gordie Bamford; sister, Dorothy Randall, and nine grandchildren. 

A celebration of life service will begin at 11 a.m. April 30 at Church in the Hills, Bellaire, Mich. Arrangements are by the Bellaire Chapel of Mortensen Funeral Homes.

The family suggests tributes to Special Olympics in care of Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, Mich.; Autism Alliance of Michigan, 26913 Northwestern Hwy. Ste 520, Southfield, Mich., or Grass River Natural Area, PO Box 231, Bellaire, Mich., 49615.

First Published February 4, 2022, 5:00 a.m.