What started with a city boy's dream to raise bison on the prairie grew to one of Minnesota's larger agricultural enterprises, one firmly rooted in generosity, forward-thinking conservation practices and spiritual faith.
David Geis, whose care for the land as he farmed thousands of acres in western Minnesota earned him countless awards and unwavering praise, died Feb. 16 after a nearly two-year battle with a brain tumor. He was 45.
For the 20 or so years that he ran his sprawling farm operation about 30 miles south of Redwood Falls, Geis put at least as much into the land as his business took out -- whether it was planting trees by the tens of thousands, setting aside acres for wetlands or helping establish a wildlife management area named for his mother, Dorothy.
"He didn't look at life in a lot of material ways," said Brad Cobb, program director of Green Corridor Inc., a conservation group based in Redwood Falls. "He looked at the big picture in how our actions and activities would leave a lasting impact."
Cobb said that once Geis found out he had cancer, "he got in a real aggressive mode about his land and his legacy. ... It was his lightbulb moment, and it set him on a path and mission to do some things."
That included what Cobb characterized as a "significant" financial contribution to fix up a petting zoo in Redwood Falls that included bison. Having read that deteriorating fences might lead to the petting zoo's closing, Geis quietly funded repairs.
"It's these sorts of gifts -- financial gifts and time and talents -- you could spend all day talking about these," Cobb said.
Born in Minneapolis, Geis attended St. Thomas Academy in the Twin Cities, agriculture school in Waseca, Minn., and the University of Minnesota.
