Combined funeral services will be held today for Dr. Philip J. Geib., chief of surgery at Providence Hospital, and his father, a retired Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corp. controller. "Surgeon Philip Geib Dies at 51"
from THE OAKLAND TRIBUNE
Saturday, December 9, 1989
Phil Geib and his little brother (and my father) Dick Geib
Dr. Geib, who was 51, died Wednesday of a heart attack, and 23 hours later 91-year-old Philip J. Geib Sr., of Piedmont, died from the same causes.
Dr. Geib was born in Minnesota, and in 1961 graduated from Cornell University with the equivalent of a master's degree in mechanical engineering.
Discharged with the rank of captain from the Army Ordnance Corps, he took a job in San Francisco with Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Co.
"Then my brother had what I would refer to as an awakening about what he really wanted to do in life," his brother, Richard J. Geib of Newport Beach, said. "He always had ideas about becoming a doctor, and enrolled in biology classes at the University of California at Berkeley."
He also joined a medical organization that exposed him to autopsies, and at 31 quit his job without being accepted at any of the 23 medical schools to which he applied.
"He found that they turned you down if you were over 30, but he made the waiting list at St. Louis University," his brother recalled. "So he packed his bags and went there. He asked the dean if there were any openings, and told him, 'Here's where I'm staying and my telephone number and I'll be here two weeks..' "He went back to the dean's office every day or so, and finally the dean asked his secretary 'who is that fellow?' and pulled his file. My brother had excellent qualifications and the dean called him."
Dr. Geib graduated in the top half of his class, and completed his surgical residency in St. Louis before coming to Oakland and establishing an extensive practice.
"At the start he went in blind and finally made a few friends among the older doctors," his brother said. "He assisted them in operations, and as they recognized his ability they gave him more and more responsibility."
Survivors include another brother, the Rev. David Geib, head chaplain at the University of Arizona at Tucson, and a sister, Margaret G. Wilkinson of Piedmont.
He was also a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and member of the East Bay Surgical and the San Francisco Medical Societies.
Services will be at 11 a.m. today Corpus Christi Church, Park Boulevard and St. James Dr., Piedmont. The family requests contributions to Providence Hospital Surgical Department.
Oakland December 6, 1989,
Loving brother of Richard J. Geib
