Meredith Henry Geringer, psychotherapist and former Inquirer reporter, dies at 62

Meredith Henry Geringer, 62, of Berwyn, a psychotherapist who focused on the family, and a former journalist, died Sunday, July 5, at Paoli Hospital of early onset Alzheimer’s disease.

The youngest of three sisters — Treacy and Alexis are the others — Mrs. Geringer created a life for herself and her family that inspired friends and left her sisters feeling “off balance” as they look to a future without her.

“She was joyful, optimistic, unique, stylish, and brilliant,” Treacy Henry said. “She had such curiosity and a sense of compassion. She was very serious about her life and so involved with everything she did.”

Dan Geringer met his future wife at a party in 1984, and she told him shortly thereafter that they seemed like a mismatch. He conceded that she was a bit more uninhibited than he.

“That was the one thing she was wrong about,” he said.

They were married in 1986, had two children, and spent the last three years hiking and hugging and laughing about those differences.

“I loved her, and she loved me,” he said. “It wasn’t about the details.”

Mrs. Geringer was born in 1957 and grew up in Trenton and Allentown. Her father was a journalist, and she worked as a waitress and earned a journalism degree from Temple University in 1981. She went on to work for three newspapers, including The Inquirer, from 1981 to 1989. But her real passion was people.

“She was empathetic and warmhearted,” said her husband, a longtime writer at the Daily News and Inquirer, now retired. “She was sincerely interested in helping people.”

After their daughter, Dylan, was born in 1988 and their son, Drew, in 1991, Mrs. Geringer earned a master of science degree in clinical social work at Bryn Mawr College. She first worked at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, then opened a practice in Wayne in 2000.

“She embraced life and stories, and wanted to get to know people,” Treacy Henry said. “She was an amazing listener, and she had compassion beyond belief.”

The practice flourished, and her husband marveled at Mrs. Geringer’s skill at juggling work and home life. She took the children to the playground often, whipped up delicious meals, and focused on family life as much as work.

Mrs. Geringer retired after her diagnosis in 2017 but couldn’t fully get away from her former clients. She was often stopped in the grocery or around town by those she had helped, and they insisted on updating her on their progress.

“They stopped us to thank her,” her husband said. “I just stood there and listened. It was amazing.”

The couple took to hiking over these last few years to fight off the effects of the disease. Their last walk together was in March along Valley Creek in Cedar Hollow Preserve near Malvern, and Dan had to hold Mrs. Geringer’s hand. They also spent time at the Jersey Shore and mugged for photos at the many concerts they attended. She loved music and dancing.

Mrs. Geringer was prone to malapropisms, her sister said. She liked to be goofy. The youngest of the five Henry children, they called her the runt. But, petite throughout her life, she could, as her sister put it, “pack away the pasta.”

She was perhaps not the best driver in the Henry family, and she had one job on Thanksgiving one year: Cook the turkey. She forgot. She loved to watch movies and had roles in local theater productions as a teen.

As her health deteriorated, Mrs. Geringer had trouble speaking. But there was one sentence, her sister said, that she never stopped repeating: I love you.

“She had a vision for her life. She had a quest,” Treacy Henry said. “So she plotted her path, and she dazzled.”

Said her husband: “I’ll always remember that smile.”

In addition to her husband, children, and sisters, Mrs. Geringer is survived by brothers Richard and Kevin; son-in-law George Murphy; and granddaughter Ramona, who was born in the morning on the day that Mrs. Geringer died.

Services are private.