Geraldine Romney Shearer was born on February 27, 1925 in Salt Lake City, Utah to Orson Douglas Romney, Jr. and Leona Hamlin. She attended East High School and the University of Utah before moving to Chicago, IL to pursue her interest in art at the American Academy of Art where she met Charles Eugene Shearer, whom she married on 29 Jun 1946, later divorced. She spent most of her married life raising her 4 children in Columbus, WI until moving back to the Salt Lake City area in 1975. She worked at AAA of Utah until departing for service as a proselytizing missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Jacksonville Florida Mission from 1993 to 1994. Geri also served as an ordinance worker in Salt Lake Temple from 1999 to 2001. Due to health concerns developing shortly thereafter, Gigi spent the majority of her remaining years in the care of her daughter living in North Salt Lake and then her children living in Marquette, MI and Janesville, WI.
In addition to her interest in art, Geri loved singing and was a member of the Jay Welch Chorale with her late sister Joan Burgoyne.
On Friday, June 23, 2017, at 92 years, Geri died peacefully after a short illness.
Gigi's greatest love was towards her extended family with whom she maintained an active involvement. She is survived by her children: Mary K. Winegar (A. Wayne), Joan E. Mayberry, Douglas R. Shearer (Patricia), and C. Scott Shearer; 19 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her parents, sisters Dorothy Wright Chapin and Joan Burgoyne, brother William Romney and her son-in-law Rex Mayberry.
Funeral services will be held on Saturday, July 22, 2017 at 11:30 a.m. at the Vista View Ward, 900 Eaglepointe Drive, North Salt Lake, Utah. Viewings will be held on Friday from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Larkin Mortuary, 260 East South Temple, and also on Saturday from 10:00-11:00 a.m. at the ward prior to services. Interment will take place in the Salt Lake City Cemetery, 4th Avenue "N" Street.
