Rosemary Frehse Geist, 97, of Rochester Hills, Michigan, died March 2, 2026. She was closely connected to the Spring Sing community through her husband of 60 years, the late Woody Geist of the Detroit Grunyons. The Geist family—Woody, Rosemary, Alison, Mary Ellen, and Libby—often sang together as a memorable quintet, and Rosemary herself had a beautiful voice. Through Spring Sing, Libby later met and married Bill Howard of the Augmented 8.
Rosemary was a painter, illustrator, teacher, and conservation advocate. A graduate of the University of Michigan School of Architecture and Design, she taught art in Royal Oak public schools, at Kingsbury School in Metamora, and at Camp Westminster on Higgins Lake. She served as a docent at the Cranbrook Art Museum, helped found the Paint Creek Center for the Arts in Rochester, illustrated her mother’s “Nature Now” column in the Birmingham Eccentric and the book Flower in the Crannied Wall, and later supported land conservation in Northern Michigan, including the Little Traverse Conservancy and the Walloon Lake Association and Conservancy. She is survived by her partner, Ronald Fredrick, also a Grunyon alumnus; daughters Alison Geist (Gary Gregg), Mary Ellen Geist (Tim van Laar), and Elizabeth Howard (Bill); and several step-grandchildren and step-great-grandchildren. A celebration of life will be held at a later date.
Alison, Mary Ellen, Rosemary, and Libby – The Geist Girls
