William Lawrence McGeever

William Lawrence McGeever, 51, of Mountain Top, passed away unexpectedly Monday, April 24, 2023.

Bill was born December 13, 1971 in Wilkes-Barre to William McGeever, of Mountain Top and the late Linda Thompson Warhurst.

He graduated in 1990 from G.A.R. Memorial High School, where he played tackle and defensive end as #62 on a powerhouse Grenadiers football team that won the 1989 Eastern Conference Championship.

He served as a corrections officer in Pennsylvania prisons for 25 years, including SCI Graterford, SCI Retreat in Hunlock Creek, and SCI Frackville, from which he retired in January 2022. He was a union representative at Retreat and taught at the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections Training Academy in Elizabethtown.

More recently, he had been working for Kriger Construction Company, Scranton.

In 1989, while working a summer job as an attendant at Wilkes-Barre's swimming pools, he met his future wife, Mary McGeer, at Kistler Elementary School when she visited a friend who was a lifeguard. Their lives were intertwined from that day on, though their families' home telephone numbers were listed in the phone book one after the other long before they met.

They have one child, William Lawrence (Billy), of Mount Juliet, TN, who made his father very proud recently by becoming a Tennessee state trooper and previously by serving as a New Orleans police officer.

Outgoing and gregarious, Bill combined his love of entertaining and music by throwing large backyard parties in the summer, some planned and some spontaneous. He was a BBQ master known for his homemade smoked brisket, which only enhanced the popularity of his parties. He moonlighted as a DJ (at his parties and elsewhere), enjoyed playing guitar, and attended many Jimmy Buffet concerts. He was also an avid gardener and loved canning.

But Alabama football ("Roll tide") and his dogs, Allie and Tug, were his biggest passions, surpassed only by his love for his family.

In addition to his mother, Bill was preceded in death by his stepfather, Gene Warhurst Sr., and his grandfather, William Lawrence McGeever.

He is survived by his wife, son, and father, along with brothers Gene Warhurst Jr., Fairhope, AL, and Dennis, Wilkes-Barre; sisters Ashley, Mountain Top, and Jenny, Wilkes-Barre; grandmother Helen McGeever, Mountain Top.; and many nieces, nephews, and in-laws.

Celebration of Bill's Life begins Thursday, April 27, 2023, with visitation from 5 to 8 PM at McLaughlin's, 142 South Washington Street in Wilkes-Barre. It continues there on Friday, April 28, 2023, with gathering at 9 AM followed by a Funeral Mass at 10 AM in the Church of Saint Aloysius at Barney and Division Streets in Wilkes-Barre.

Donations to Blue Chip Farm Animal Rescue or Northeast Pet Fund & Rescue are preferred and will honor Bill's memory.

Share memories and condolences with Bill's family at mjmclaughlin.com

Death leaves a heartache no one can heal. Love leaves a memory no one can steal.