Louise Brink Géczy, a longtime teacher at Bel Air’s John Carroll School who was a human rights advocate, died Oct. 27 at Upper Chesapeake Medical Center. The Street resident was 79.
“Louise was a magnificent human being,” said Stephen A. DiBiagio, John Carroll’s president. “She had a steel resolve to forge ahead and teach our students moral courage and compassion. She was transformative.”
Born in Lorain, Ohio, she was the daughter of Cletus “Kayo” Brink and Mary Louise Stewart Brink. She earned a degree at the University of South Florida and began her career at Eau Gallie High School in Florida, where she met her future husband, Louis Géczy, a fellow teacher.
After moving to Maryland, she taught English, creative writing and public speaking in the Baltimore County public school system, including a period at Perry Hall High School, where she also advised the literary magazine.
She was a Fulbright Scholar in Hungary, her husband’s ancestral homeland, from 1993 to 1994.
After moving to Harford County, she joined the John Carroll School faculty and taught English and public speaking. She was later academics project manager and developed a senior project program.
“She helped establish Senior Unity Day and shaped the school’s Human Rights and Holocaust programming, including Holocaust Remembrance Day and the senior class trip to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum,” said her daughter, Michelle Géczy.
She also led Lessons of the Shoah, an annual event held in conjunction with the Baltimore Jewish Council.
“Louise was an amazing woman,” said Jake Hollin, a John Carroll assistant principal. “She was a light in a dark world. Louise emphasized human rights and dignity regardless of faith, skin color or background. She was able to give a voice to the voiceless.”
She co-created the elective Exploration of Human Rights, Genocide and the Pursuit of Justice and organized the school’s annual Genocide Vigil.
Ms. Géczy was a recipient of the 2024 International Peace and Justice Award and the 2009 and 2023 Ponczak-Greenblatt Families Awards for Excellence in Holocaust Education.
Her daughter, Michelle, also said, “She was compassionate, humble, generous and kind. She inspired her students with wisdom, creativity, curiosity and faith in their potential. Her encouragement gave many the confidence to find their own voices.”
Ms. Géczy led by example, embodying the belief that “we rise by lifting others.”
She enjoyed gardening, browsing bookstores and libraries and playing Scrabble and cards.
“She liked a good crab cake, antiquing and a chocolate milkshake made with vanilla ice cream,” her daughter said.
A memorial will be held at 10 a.m. Nov. 29 at the John Carroll School in Bel Air.
Survivors include her daughters, Michelle Géczy, of Baltimore, Jessica Géczy-Shertzer, of Conowingo, and Allison Fordyce, of Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania; two sisters, Susan Hewins, of Ashtabula, Ohio, and Patricia Brink; and five grandchildren. Her husband of 54 years, Louis Géczy, a Parkville High School teacher, died in 2023.
Have a news tip? Contact Jacques Kelly at jkelly@baltsun.com.
