Geraldline Lenora (Harmon) Garvin

Geraldline Lenora (Harmon) Garvin, born July 22, 1922, in Atlanta, GA, peacefully passed March 25, 2022, at Lutheran Life Villages South.

Mrs. Garvin was a life-long educator, Golden Life Member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Sunday School teacher, volunteer and family matriarch.

Graduating in 1938 from Booker T. Washington High School in Atlanta, Geraldline graduated from Clark College in 1942 with a Bachelor’s in Home Economics with a concentration in Culinary Arts.

At the age of 20, she accepted a position in a rural school in Eatonton, GA.  In 1944, she moved to New York and studied Dietetics at Columbia University.  After moving to Fort Wayne with her spouse and degree in hand, her first position was as a Nursery School teacher with the Red Feather Agency.  In 1962, she was employed as an elementary teacher at Hanna School.  When she became a Reading Specialist upon completing her Master’s in Education at St. Francis in 1965, she taught several years at Weisser Park Jr. High, and in 1971, she was assigned to Miami Middle School from whence she retired as the Reading Dept. Chair in 1991.  Yet, she continued to educate, substituting for Fort Wayne Community Schools until 2007.

Mrs. Garvin held offices in Delta Sigma Theta, Phi Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma and also served as a representative for the Indiana Reading Association and Fort Wayne Education’s Negotiation Team.

Aside from this, Geraldline immensely enjoyed church and concerts (Classical, Religious and Jazz) as well as Broadway musicals and plays, even attending some in Paris, France. However, she was passionate about planting flowers, reading, writing poetry and preparing Sunday dinner, which sometimes included frog legs and beef tongue (ick).

Geraldline was preceded in death by her, mother Annie Mae Harmon; father, Alfred Harmon; and sister, Ernestine Harmon Moore.

Mrs. Geraldline Garvin is survived by her children:  Peggy Eileen (Garvin) Turner, Springfield, OH; Madeline Marcelia Garvin, Fort Wayne, IN; Mahlon (Divina) Garvin, Cottleville, Missouri; grandchildren: Matthew (Marie) Turner, II, Fisherville, Kentucky; Eileen Turner, Cincinnati, OH; great-grandchildren: Lenora, William and Colina Turner and other friends and relatives.

Funeral Service will be 11 am Friday, April 1, 2002 at First Wayne Street United Methodist Church 300 E. Wayne St. Fort Wayne, IN  46802 with Reverends Jason Morris and Denise Lapsley officiating.  Visitation will be one hour before the service from 10 am - 11 am at the church.

Interment will be held on Monday, April 4, 2022 in Covington Memorial Gardens with Committal Service conducted by Rev. Dr. Peggy Eileen G. Turner.

Preferred memorials are to scholarships in the name of Geraldline Lenora Harmon Garvin to Booker T. Washington High School, Atlanta, GA; St. Francis University Reading Clinic, Fort Wayne, IN, and Clark Atlanta University School of Education.

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