Maria Elena Geyer

Executive Leader of Community Blood Centers and Non-Profits

Maria Elena Geyer died peacefully in her home on June 14, 2021. Her husband Mark was by her side. Maria Elena had been battling gastric cancer over the past year.

While she and Mark had been residents of Palm Desert, CA for the last 8 years, they both had deep roots in the Puget Sound region of Washington state. Maria Elena is survived by her older brother Eladio Jimenez and his two sons; Jason and Christian of Chicago, IL, younger brothers Carlos Jimenez (Sylvia) and their three children; Dominique, Nathan, and Danielle of San Antonio, TX, and David Jimenez, and his three children; Sarah, Stephen, and Nicole of Harford, CT. Her family was extremely important to her and she cherished the time she spent with them.

She was born on December 30, 1954 to Eladio and Elia Jimenez in San Jose, Costa Rica. She was raised in San Jose and moved to Chicago, IL in 1970 where she graduated from Glenbard North High in 1972.

Maria Elena attended Jacksonville University in Florida where in 1977 she received a BS in Art Studies, and a BA in Pre-Med. She earned her MBA at the University of Washington in 2000. Maria Elena and Mark met while working in Florida and it was a perfect match. They supported each other’s dreams, shared long walks, perfected their salsa dancing and supported each other with life’s twists and turns for the past 34 years.

Maria Elena excelled the minute she became a blood bank recruiter in the mid 1980’s at Broward Community Blood Center in Fort Lauderdale. She was quickly regarded as the best in her business and was ultimately asked to head up the Donor and Volunteer Resources Program at Puget Sound Blood Center (now Bloodworks Northwest), the leading Blood and Research Center in the world. Mark is from

the Puget Sound region, so it was easy for them to move to Seattle. Beginning at the Blood Center in 1990, she helped grow the size of the institution, and expand its service area and donor locations. Becoming Executive Vice President in 2005, she oversaw several departments that collectively represented over 60% of the Blood Center’s revenue including Northwest Tissue Services (now LifeNet Health), a non-profit, community-sponsored tissue bank founded by Puget Sound Blood Center that provided transplant tissue and donation services for hospitals in Washington, Montana, and Northern Idaho.

She maintained steady growth during her years at the Blood Center. They grew from 6 locations to 11 locations, and from 110,000 to over 240,000 individual blood donors. She managed the largest regional volunteer group in the country with over 5,000 volunteers providing 110,000 work hours helping with blood drives and events. Her achievements were remarkable

Industry leadership and best practices, which were the hallmark of Puget Sound Blood Center, continued to be achieved with Maria Elena. The blood and tissue supplies expanded significantly. Community relations and awareness of their brand was elevated to new heights. She was committed to a high level of performance and continually worked to anticipate and prepare to meet future needs for all the communities they served.

She served on the leadership boards of many industry organizations such as Association of America’s Blood Banks (AABB), and America’s Blood Centers (ABC). Her accomplishments were recognized internationally, and she received several achievement awards for her contributions, such as being honored as an exceptional leader in donor recruitment when she received the prestigious AABB Chapman-Franzmeier Memorial Award and Lectureship. This distinguished accomplishment recognized Maria Elena as someone who helped many others by making significant contributions to the association and its members, enhancing the effective recruitment of blood donors. Her successful strategies have been adopted nationwide.

“While at the Blood Center, Maria Elena helped the institution grow by establishing a successful donor and volunteer program. She changed the Blood Center from having frequent blood shortages to having a dependable blood supply with only rare shortages.”

Dr. Richard B Counts, Retired President and CEO, Puget Sound Blood Center

“Maria Elena had a keen sense of positioning and branding. She helped shape and create the way we presented ourselves, the way we interacted not only in the region, but nationally. She knew how important it was to serve with excellence for the people who rely on the blood centers in our communities, but also the critical importance of offering our national partners and colleagues the benefits of our industry leadership and providing education in our proven best practices at all times.”

Linda Yriondo, Retired Marketing Director, Puget Sound Blood Center

Following her career in Blood Center management, Maria Elena approached her work with other organizations she led in the same way. She was CEO of American Red Cross North Eastern Pennsylvania Blood Services, from 2012 –2014 and then became President and CEO of Cancer Partners (formerly Gilda’s Club) in the Palm Springs, CA area from 2014-2020.

“Maria Elena was tenacious and never distracted. She brought her knowledge of patients, years of leadership, and her humanity to our cause. Her quiet and steady way was admirable. To call Maria Elena an effective leader would be an understatement. I feel fortunate to have been her colleague and friend.”

Paul D Golden, Board President, Cancer Partners

Her approach to success was methodical and strategic. She could reorganize a team, bring in all the applicable skillsets required, and lead them to achieve all goals. Her “signature” path forward always included creating strategic partnerships, and coalitions or alliances with businesses or community organizations and leaders. She would organize events to publicly recognize and thank donors, volunteers, and staff for their roles in achieving success, which she measured based on how much help patients or people in need received. She was expert at recruiting donor support (both financial and volunteer) by effectively identifying and communicating the represented organization’s value to the community at large.

Maria Elena volunteered in the communities in which she lived. Notably, she was an active member for many years at Seattle 4 Rotary Club and most recently was serving on the Board of Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs.

“Maria Elena spent her entire life as a passionate advocate for healthcare organizations whose missions focused on improving the lives of people who experienced healthcare challenges. She was a remarkable ambassador for blood donation, helping save many lives by connecting donors and patients through the gift of blood.”

Dr Frederick Axelrod, CEO, Life Stream Blood Bank

Board Chairman, Desert Regional Medical Center

The family would like to acknowledge her amazing medical team; Dr Luke Dreisbach with support from Dr Geraldine Klein, both of Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, CA.

A memorial service will be held for family members in Connecticut. There will be separate Celebration of Life gatherings scheduled in both Palm Springs and Seattle in early fall.

Donations can be made in Maria Elena’s name to the Life Stream Blood Bank, a 501(c)(3) supporting the Coachella Valley, Riverside and San Bernardino areas. https://secure.donationpay.org/lstream/