Huskers Retire Geis' Jersey

Lincoln -- The Nebraska softball team retired the third jersey in the history of the program on Oct. 12, 2001, when it payed tribute to Julie Geis in between games of a doubleheader at Bowlin Stadium.

A four-year letterwinner (1976-1979) for the Huskers, Geis was a victim of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York City. Geis, who worked for the downtown Kansas City, Mo., office of Aon Consulting Inc., was on the 105th floor of the south tower, where she was working during a week-long trip to New York.

Geis, a native of Beaver Crossing, Neb., earned a bachelor of science degree in education, a master's degree in educational psychology and measurements, and a Ph.D. in education education-administration. She was a senior vice president and the director of business development for AonLine, Aon's online corporation.

Julie Geis Accomplishments

1976-1979: Member of the Nebraska softball team, four-year letterwinner at shortstop

1979: Bachelor of Science degree in Education with Special Education and Coaching Endorsements

1982: Master of Arts degree in Educational Psychology and Measurements

1989: Ph.D. in Education-Administration, Curriculum and Instruction

Teacher of Special Education

Business Woman

Community Leader

NU's Geis' hits came off the field
BY ELIZABETH MERRILL - WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
Lincoln - From Lincoln to Beaver Crossing, Neb., silent vigils were kept that somehow, somewhere, Julie Geis was still alive under the World Trade Center rubble. She was a shortstop for the Nebraska softball team who never left a game with an injury, who never backed down from a challenge.
Mike Geis knew his sister had died.

"Frankly, I thought she was doomed from the beginning," he said. "Just because of the kind of person she was, I thought she'd be the last person to leave. She would lead others. She would want to make sure everybody else was safe.

"I don't want to say I wasn't hopeful. But deep down, I just knew."

On a warm, sunny fall day this week, the current Huskers were stretching out at the Nebraska Softball Complex as Coach Rhonda Revelle pointed to a worn-out patch of grass by the street.

There, Revelle said, was where Julie Geis used to play.

It was so much different back then. It was the '70s. Teams picked glass and nails off the field. The dirt they used came from the dump.

"It's hard to know about her statistics," Revelle said. "They didn't keep many archives for women's sports back then."

But everyone will know about Geis soon.

Next week, she will become just the third player in Nebraska softball history to have her jersey retired. No. 15 may not have been in the record books, but she'll share space with legends Lori Sippel and Denise Day.

And that, Revelle says, seems perfect.

Geis wasn't just any other player. She got three degrees from Nebraska, including a Ph.D. She was a special education teacher for 10 years before climbing up the corporate ladder at Aon Consulting, an insurance brokerage firm whose work took her to New York City on Sept. 11.

She did volunteer work.

"Julie really embodied what a student-athlete was in this program," said Revelle, who helped come up with the idea of retiring Geis' jersey in the past couple of weeks. "No matter if you're talking to someone who's from her hometown or somebody who's from Lincoln Public Schools or someone she competed with, they all say the same thing. She's highly intense, she didn't believe in the word no, and she'd find a way to get something done.

"I think I've cried every day for the last three weeks."

The Huskers were giving blood on the afternoon of Sept. 11 when Revelle's phone rang. Did you hear what happened, the friend asked. Did you hear about Julie?

Revelle, a pitcher for the Huskers in the 1980s, didn't play college ball with Geis. But they were teammates in summer ASA ball and maintained a friendship through the years.

Geis, 44, was the fifth of eight children and lived near Kansas City. She was an avid Husker football fan and had season tickets to the Chiefs. She tailgated before every Chiefs' home game.

In part because she was such a people person, Geis advanced quickly at Aon. She was a senior vice president at AonLine, the brokerage's online unit.