October 6, 1944 - May 7, 2023
Geraldine B. Cubbal of Bedford Heights, Ohio died May 7, 2023 after a prolonged illness. Geri was born in Youngstown on October 6, 1944 to William B. Bruce and the former Pauline C. Krajci. She graduated from Thiel College as a French major who spent a year abroad studying in France. She went on to earn a master's degree in psychology from the University of Saint Francis. Later in life, she went back to school to earn a master’s in library and information science from Kent State University. Geraldine met husband John Cubbal while they were both working as librarians at the Youngstown Public Library. They married on October 4, 1969. She later worked at the Allen County (Indiana) Public Library and the libraries at Cleveland State University and the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. At UMass Dartmouth, Geri taught courses on effective use of library reference materials and the internet to students preparing to conduct advanced research studies. She was a keen artist who was adept at various arts and crafts, including sewing, drawing, and decorating psanky eggs. In her retirement, she enjoyed studying Hungarian, a language she had no prior connection to, later admitting when asked that she had chosen it “because it was hard.” She loved spending time with her grandchildren and cheering them on in their hobbies and activities. Geri is survived by her husband John, children Tracy, Bradley, and Jeffrey Cubbal, and grandchildren Holden Charek-Cubbal and Layla and Joseph Cubbal. She was preceded in death by her sister, Dolores Venneri.
The family will be remembering her privately, with her ashes to be interred at a later date.
Donations in her memory may be made to the Wish List Fund at Western Reserve Hospice.
