Laura Lee M. Geraghty, founding director of Search Institute’s
Healthy Communities • Healthy Youth initiative, dies after battle with
cancer
Laura Lee M. Geraghty, director of strategic advancement for Search
Institute and a national leader in volunteerism and community service,
passed away in her St. Louis Park, Minnesota, home on January 14, 2004,
after a courageous, seven-year battle with cancer. She was 59.
Ms. Geraghty joined Search Institute in 1995 as the director of Healthy
Communities • Healthy Youth. She subsequently became the director of
national initiatives and, most recently, director of strategic
advancement. During her tenure, she was instrumental in launching a
wide range of Search Institute initiatives, including the annual
Healthy Communities • Healthy Youth Conference, and Search Institute
training and technical assistance. She also played key leadership roles
with numerous projects for Search Institute, including internal
strategic planning; statewide initiatives in Arkansas, Colorado,
Kansas, Nevada, and Oklahoma; and alliances with national partners such
as Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and America’s Promise.
Ms. Geraghty’s professional career focused on mobilizing individuals,
communities, and organizations to contribute to the common good,
utilizing her expertise in volunteerism, community service, leadership
development, and positive youth development. Prior to working at Search
Institute, she was the founding director of the Minnesota Office on
Volunteer Services and served in that capacity for 17 years. She also
served as director of community services for CBS-affiliated WCCO Radio.
“Throughout her career, Laura Lee never sought the spotlight for
herself,” said Peter L. Benson, president of Search Institute. “She
recognized the gifts of each person to build community with and for
young people. Her legacy lies in the thousands of lives she touched
through her personal life, her community involvement, and her career in
volunteerism and community building.”
Ms. Geraghty was a community faculty member at Metropolitan State
University for 15 years and also taught at the University of St. Thomas
Nonprofit Management Center. She served on many nonprofit boards at the
local, state, and national levels and provided consulting services to a
wide range of government and nonprofit organizations. She previously
served as national president of the Association of Volunteer
Administrators, and president of the Alumni Association and a Board
Member of the College of St. Catherine, St. Paul, where she earned her
bachelor’s degree in history and political science.
Among many honors and awards, she received the Presidential Gold Medal
for her design of volunteer programs in Minnesota and the 1992 Harriet
Naylor Distinguished Member Service Award from the Association for
Volunteer Administration for her outstanding contribution to the
association and to the profession of volunteer resources management.
She is preceded in death by her father, John C. Geraghty. She is
survived by her husband, Richard Beens; and daughter, Jennifer (Steve)
Harper; grandson, Charlie; mother, Leona Geraghty; sister, Kathleen
(Tom) Weaver; brothers, Dennis (Grace) and Kevin (Marie). Also survived
by many other loving nieces, nephews, relatives, and friends.
Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10 a.m., Saturday, January 17, at
the College of St. Catherine Chapel, St. Paul, with interment at
Resurrection Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m., Friday,
January 16, at St. Catherine’s. Memorials are preferred to Search
Institute or College of St. Catherine.
