Fr. David (Willis) Geib O.P.

Fr. David Geib, OP, a Dominican friar of the Province of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, died peacefully from complications of Alzheimer’s disease on March 10, 2025 in Oakland, CA. Fr. David was born Willis Francis Geib on May 15, 1941 to Philip James and Margaret (Sullivan) Geib in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. He and his older brothers, Philip and Richard, were eventually joined by their sister, Margaret (Margie). Fr. David, known always as “Bill” to the members of his family, had very fond memories of his childhood and his loving parents. Every summer the family poured into the car and drove to Forest Lake, Minnesota, for an extended vacation at their lake-front house, with days filled with swimming and boating, and evenings spent playing cards, especially bridge. His parents treasured their Catholic faith and valued a good education. They first sent him to grammar school with the Sisters of Mercy at Waldron Academy in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Then, after two years at the Haverford School in Haverford, PA, Fr. David followed his brothers to Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire. Upon graduation, Fr. David attended Cornell University for a year, then moved to California and enrolled at UC Berkeley. Discerning a call to religious life and priesthood, Fr. David entered the Dominican novitiate in Kentfield, CA, receiving the habit of the Order on September 8, 1961 and making his first profession on September 9, 1962. Fr. David completed a Bachelor of Philosophy at the Dominican House of Studies at St. Albert the Great Priory, Oakland and was ordained a priest on June 16, 1967. His first assignment was as a campus minister at Arizona State University and thus began a lifelong passion for ministry to university students which continued at the University of Oregon, University of Arizona, Southern Oregon State University, University of Washington, St. Mary’s College, Moraga, University of California, Riverside, Occidental College, and Stanford University. He served as a retreat master at St. Raymond’s retreat in Thousand Oaks, CA, and in 1979, his Dominican brothers selected Fr. David to serve as the master of novices, which he did until 1985. On two occasions he served as a chaplain at the Dominican retreat center, St. Benedict Lodge, in McKenzie Bridge, OR. This assignment amid the magnificent forests and snowy peaks of the Cascades delighted Fr. David, who for years, and in many locales, had led friends and college students on backpacking retreats, where, surrounded by the beauty of God’s creation, he would offer Mass, lead the little community in prayer, and swim in whatever body of water was available. Fr. David was preceded in death by his parents and his older brother, Phil and is survived by his brother, Richard, and sister, Margie and her husband, Pete Wilkinson, and nieces Katie and Meg and nephews Richard, Thomas, David, and John. A vigil will be held at St. Dominic Catholic Church, 475 East I Street, Benicia, CA, on Tuesday, March 18 at 7:30 PM. A funeral Mass will be held at the same location Wednesday, March 19, at 10:30 AM. Burial will follow at St. Dominic's cemetery in Benicia. A memorial fund has been established to honor Fr. David. Gifts will support the education of Fr. David’s Dominican brothers still in formation. Please donate online at https://opwest.org/frdavidgeib

Fr. David (Willis) Geib O.P.

May 15, 1941 - March 10, 2025