Geraldine was “Jeri” to all who knew her. She was born on January, 12, 1930 in Venice, California to Harry Franklin and Freda Martindale Lewis. She was the third and last of their children to be born and the last surviving member of her family.
Jeri begged to take piano lessons when she was 7 or 8 years old. Her parents refused saying they’d given lessons to her two older siblings and it didn’t last. She promised if she would be allowed to take lessons, she would practice every day and if she didn’t practice, they could stop the lessons. True to her word she did practice every day. She went on to become a wonderful piano teacher and taught for 50 years with her first recital in May of 1964 and her last in May of 2014.
Another love of Jeri’s was ice skating. When she was about 10 years old, she was scouted at the Sonja Henie Ice Palace in Los Angeles. A scout came to her home and asked if she could be trained to be in the shows. Her dad said absolutely not and that was the end of that discussion; but her love of the sport continued.
Jeri met her sweetheart on the Santa Monica beach. She and Grant Edwin Danielson were married on August 17, 1947 in Bremerton, WA, where he was on leave while stationed with the Navy in the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. She was only 17 and he 18 when they married.
Jeri grew up with a keen interest in worshipping God. She was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when she turned eight years old. Her family was not active and Jeri took every opportunity to walk to another church nearby her home each Sunday so she could feel the spiritual closeness of Deity. In 1954, Grant joined the church and their marriage was solemnized in the LDS Los Angeles temple in 1956. They were married for 68 years before Grant’s passing.
Jeri has faithfully served in various positions within the church throughout her life with children, youth and adults, including many music positions into her eighties.
Jeri is survived by her three children; Karen D. Wilkey, (Lynn), Lorraine Robinson, Kenneth Danielson (Sherrol), sixteen grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren.
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