Sunday, 26 September 1999Elderly couple pays dearly for Baptist fund's troubles
Photos by Jeffry Scott, The Arizona Daily Star Sixty-two years of marriage have only intensified the spark of love that binds Ernest and ``Granny'' Geer so strongly
By Alan D. Fischer
Ernest and Thelma ``Granny'' Geer joyfully labored as servants of the Lord since they were saved - a week apart - back in January 1947. The pair gave freely of their talents, time, efforts, sweat and money to advance the work of the Southern Baptist Church. But now the Geers, along with 13,000 other investors, find the money they entrusted to the Baptist Foundation of Arizona frozen - with no clue how much of their life savings they will ever see again. State regulators believe the foundation has about $530 million in liabilities, or money owed to investors. They fear there may be far less than that in foundation assets, many of which are in real estate holdings. Investigators are trying to untangle the financial web of the foundation and its more than 60 subsidiaries and affiliates to determine how to best help investors get their money back. But the outcome of such efforts remains uncertain. Ernest Geer sits in a room at the Benson Hospital and worriedly fusses with his hands. His are stout, weathered hands that have seen a lifetime of hard work scratching out a living by farming - hands missing the ends of two fingers because of a farming accident. Geer, who at 89 remains independent and healthy, fears his inability to access his life savings means he may no longer be able to provide the care his beloved wife of 62 years needs. Stricken with Alzheimer's disease and heart problems, Granny Geer requires round-the-clock care and medication that runs more than $4,000 per month. She currently lives at the Benson Hospital, awaiting an opening at an area nursing home. The Geers worked hard and saved for decades to ensure they would be well cared for in their old age. Just this year he finally decided to retire, and let the weeds take over his melon fields. The Geers started their married lives working for $1 a day in the fields, and through a lifetime of labor they scrimped and saved for their old age. But the fruits of their efforts are locked up in the foundation, just when Granny Geer, 83, needs them most. ``I don't know how I can do it if I don't have access to the money we have saved,'' said Ernest Geer, who frequently makes the trek to Benson from his family-owned 40-acre melon farm south of Safford to see his wife. He said almost of their nest egg, with the exception of a small amount of money in the bank, is tied up in foundation investments. After his foundation funds were frozen in August, he has used up most of his available money paying for his wife's care. ``We can go a little further with what we've got, but with these expenses, not much further. I term it having our backs against the wall,'' he said.
``If we lose this we're down to our Social Security, which isn't very much. That's beans, that's about all that is,'' he said of the $750 monthly payment. ``That's below the poverty line.'' He fears that if his wife's care is handed over to the state, she may be placed in a facility far from him - a facility that may not offer the quality of care she needs and deserves. ``This is very important, and this is what is troubling me now: that I will have to turn her loose and not be able to take care of her the way I want her taken care of,'' he said. ``I'm not worried about me. I know I won't have to be taken care of much longer anyway.'' ``My parents lived very frugally so they wouldn't end up on government assistance,'' said Jackie Wimberly, the Geers' only daughter. ``My daddy's heart is in total grief that he can't take care of his wife.'' She said her mother worked as a volunteer missionary for the Southern Baptist Church in the United States and overseas for 45 years. Granny Geer wrote a still-popular book titled ``Mormonism, Mama & Me'' on her efforts to spread God's message. She was also named a church ``Trophy of Missions'' and spoke at the Southern Baptist national convention in the late 1950s, Wimberly said. Wimberly's father funded her mother's missionary expenses by farming. He leads a farmer's life, wearing blue jeans and driving an older used vehicle. He also, for no pay, spent a year moving an abandoned church building piece by piece from Fort Huachuca to Safford, giving the Southern Baptists their first facility there. ``My mother and daddy have done so much for the Baptist Church and for the love of Jesus. Now daddy's heart is breaking,'' Wimberly said. ``It's such a grieving process because of the disillusionment.'' Despite the problems caused by the foundation's financial problems, Geer said his belief in God remains resolute. ``I haven't lost faith in what the Baptist Church teaches. What (foundation administrators) have done hasn't weakened my faith in what the Baptists teach nor weakened my faith in Christ. ``Because of somebody's dishonesty, because somebody mishandled someone else's money, it put us in the position we are in now,'' he said. ``I think some of the money was used by (foundation officials) to make money for themselves.'' His wife remains unaware of the financial problems her husband faces, happily secure in her faith in God. She offered a recent visitor a copy of her book, and cheerfully said she is ready and willing to again go out on the circuit as a missionary for her church.
Ernest Geer, who said he doubts the foundation situation will be resolved to allow him to see his money during his lifetime, said he was not concerned for himself - only for his wife. Jon Wimberly, Jackie's son, said during a recent visit to the Benson Hospital that he was angry that misdeeds by foundation officials had caused his family such distress. ``They knew in 1996 what was happening, but they've tried to cover it up,'' he said. ``People like Grandpa were the last ones to know.'' ``The thing that irritates me is thinking of Grandpa having to live the way he is while they are driving around in their $60,000 cars and living in their half-million-dollar homes,'' he said. ``To me, that is completely not right.'' Ernest Geer said he still believes the foundation and its work building churches is a good thing, but said the dishonesty of a few men has wronged him, his wife and 13,000 others. ``I feel betrayed by the ones who were responsible for this. I should have made sure that everybody that said they were Baptist was honest,'' he said, but added, ``We're not mad at anyone - we're just very disappointed.'' |
