John Martin Geraghty

John Martin Geraghty died on July 29, 2021 in Alexandria, Virginia. The cause of death was cardiac failure. He was predeceased by his brother Peter Geraghty and his sister Ann Geraghty. Born in New York on July 1, 1943, he graduated from Fordham University in 1965 and joined the Peace Corps. Assigned to Malawi in south central Africa, he taught high school classes for two years. He received an M.A. degree at Teachers College, Columbia, while teaching in the public schools in The Bronx.

At the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) , he spent his career working on international exchange programs on a range of socio-economic and environmental issues related to urban regions and the administration of bilateral cooperative exchange programs with other governments, including the former Soviet Union, and then later with Russia and China.  He coordinated HUD’s participation in multilateral organizations such as UN/Geneva, UN/Habitat, and the OECD/Paris., working with the State Department here and abroad. Under the US-China Program in the 1980s, he was the US editor for the first English-Chinese Glossary of Terms in housing construction and urban planning, which was jointly published by the two governments in 1987.

 He leaves his wife, Jean, daughter, Katharine, and grandson, Jack of Alexandria; his brother, William (Amie), River Edge, NJ, two sisters, Catherine Cannizzo and Mary Geraghty of Leland, NC and his sister in law, Jane Witz (Bill) of Chincoteage, VA. He will be dearly missed by his godchildren, nieces, nephews, and great nieces and nephews, whom he adored, as well as his extended Irish family. His many friends and colleagues will miss their shared love of urban affairs, history, and current events, as well as his wonderful dry sense of humor.

Visiting hours will be held at Everly Wheatley Funeral Home in Alexandria, Thursday, August 5 from 5:00 -7:00 pm. A funeral mass will be held at Holy Trinity Church in Georgetown on Friday, August 6 at 10:30 am. The family will receive visitors in the Holy Trinity Chapel from 9:30 -10:15 am prior to the mass. Burial will occur at Ivy Hill Cemetery following the mass. A reception will be held at Everly Wheatley Funeral Home, starting at 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Catholic Medical Mission Board, Doctors Without Borders, or the Malawi Children’s Village.

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