Geraldine Bonnie (Weinger) Kassirer, beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, passed away peacefully in Canton, Mass., on January 29, 2025. She was 90 years old.
Born on September 2, 1934, Geri (or Nana) is survived by her four children Amy Kassirer, Richard (and Susan) Kassirer, Wendy Largey, and Elizabeth (and Matthew) Ziegler; and her grandchildren Leah (and Bill) Carlin, Alison Hochler (and Paul Mitzlaff), Natalie Kassirer (and Scott Hufschmid), Rylee (and Kai) Kassirer, Owen (and Lea) Ziegler, Daniel Ziegler (and Maddie Eckebrecht); and her great grandchildren Kiera, Josephine and Theodore.
Geri grew up in Buffalo, NY and married Dr. Jerome Kassirer in 1954. They soon moved to Boston, where they raised their four children. Following their divorce in 1977, Geri went back to school and earned her degree in Public Health in 1984 from Boston University Medical School. Her small house in Wellesley became a popular hub for her kids and their friends.
Geri was the epitome of resilience: A single mom of four at 40 who established herself as a key administrator in various positions at Dana Farber, Children’s, and Brigham hospitals.
She was also a fighter: from her activism in the burgeoning social rights battles of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s through her later years as she battled endless medical issues, beating both breast cancer and Hepatitis C. In her last few years, she was in and out of the hospital. Her children called her the “Comeback Kid” because after every hospital stint, she returned home as if nothing had happened. She never gave up fighting.
Geri had a sly sense of humor, and she loved the ocean, sailing, painting, movies and a good book. She had a long book list, which she kept meticulously. Some of her paintings were displayed on the hallway walls at her final residence at Orchard Cove in Canton, where she also volunteered in the library and was on the residence’s movie committee.
Her final wishes were to have her ashes scattered in the ocean at Stage Fort Park in Gloucester, Mass., a favorite family beach. May her memory be a blessing.
In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests that donations be made in Geri’s memory to the American Civil Liberties Union (aclu.org) or Casa Myrna (casamyrna.org), a women’s domestic abuse shelter.