Walter Geary Andrews

It is with great sadness that the family of Walter Geary Andrews announce his passing on October 23, 2024, at the age of 86, in Folsom, California. Geary was known by family and friends as loving, insightful, thoughtful, a good listener, a teacher, a storyteller, a history buff, a rocket scientist, and a giver of great hugs.

Geary was born on January 17, 1938, in Plattsburgh, NY to Walter and Marie Andrews. He was a basketball and baseball phenom and a Math Regent’s Scholar, scoring in the top 1%, at Our Lady of Victory Academy, a private Roman Catholic high school in Plattsburgh, where he graduated in 1957. He graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in mathematics from St. Michael’s College in Colchester, Vermont (1960) and earned a Master of Science degree in applied math and mechanics from the University of Delaware (1962). Geary was a cadet in the Sabre Squadron, an honorary Air Force ROTC society, and a member of the Delta Epsilon Sigma Honor Society during his early university studies at the University of Detroit.

After graduating from the University of Delaware, Geary joined Morton Thiokol in Mechanicsville, MD where he worked for 12 years, aspiring to the position of Manager of Engineering Special Projects. Concurrently, through the University of Delaware extension program, Geary taught mathematics at Dover Air Force Base. Geary moved to Northern California in 1974 to join Aerojet General in Rancho Cordova. At Aerojet, Geary served in program management and marketing roles in Advanced Technology until he was promoted in 1983 to Deputy Director of the Small Intercontinental Ballistic Missile System. In that role he was responsible for the company’s marketing and management efforts to obtain validation and full-scale engineering development contracts for the newest Air Force SICBM booster. While working at Aerojet, Geary also completed a Business Management certification program at the Defense Systems Management College at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. After Geary retired from Aerojet in 1993, he worked as an Associate Professor of mathematics at American River College in Sacramento, CA for almost 10 years.

As a result of the important accomplishments Geary achieved during his aerospace career, his name resides on a plaque on the moon, and he was granted a lifetime membership and named an Associate Fellow at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).

Throughout his long career and into retirement Geary had a love for travel and golf. Some of Geary’s favorite destinations include Hawaii, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and South America. His passion for golf transpired into two decades of marshalling at AT&T Pro-Am and US PGA Championship golf tournaments. One of his greatest personal golfing experiences was playing the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland. No matter where Geary resided, he was always devoted to his Catholic faith. While living in El Dorado Hills, Geary served his community by coaching youth baseball and softball teams, and by tutoring calculus to college freshman. He loved ice cream, German chocolate cake, peanut brittle, penuche walnut and maple pecan fudges, and Jersey Mike’s subs.

A devoted husband and father of two, Geary is survived by his wife Kaye, of 64 years, his sister Monica, and his two daughters, Lisa and Carrie. He is also survived by seven wonderful grandchildren who call him “Pop Pop”, Heather, Lindsey, Brendon, Svenja, Amanda, Devin, and Niklas, four great grandchildren Owen, Olivia, Evan, and Ingrid, his niece Diana and his nephew Scott. Geary is preceded in death by his grandson, Ben, who passed away in 2021. A memorial service will be held on November 13, 2024, at 10:30 am at Divine Savior Catholic Church in Orangevale, CA. A celebration of life will be held afterwards.