Geraldine W. Griner, a retired veteran city public schools educator, died in her sleep Oct. 12 at the Augsburg Lutheran Home and Lutheran Village in Lochearn.

The longtime Elgin Avenue resident was 96.

The daughter of John Wilson, an Orioles Cafeteria chef, and Eva Wilson, a homemaker, Geraldine Wilson was born in Baltimore and raised on Woodbrook Avenue.

After graduating in 1939 from Frederick Douglass High School, she earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 1944 from what is now Coppin State University.

She later earned a master’s degree in education from New York University at a time when African-Americans were prohibited from attending Maryland’s graduate schools.

“Following her studies, she returned home to Baltimore, where she distinguished herself as an outstanding classroom and master teacher, ‘teacher in charge,’ and was ultimately recognized by the school system for exemplary performance,” Kim Baich, a niece who lives in Edgewater, wrote in a biographical profile of her aunt.

Mrs. Griner advanced to assistant principal and principal, and was principal at Harlem Park Elementary School at the time of her retirement in 1980.

She was a longtime member of Sharon Baptist Church and remained active in church activities until she was well into her 90s.

Mrs. Griner had served as chair of the church’s board of trustees, the first woman to hold that position in more than 25 years. She was one of the church’s first women deacons and was a trustee of the Constance H. Moore Scholarship Fund.

She was a member of more than 15 other organizations at Sharon and had been a choir member for more than 30 years.

”She dedicated her life to the church,” said her sister, Dr. Joan Brown Washington of Silver Spring.

Mrs. Griner enjoyed dancing and was a member of Beta Pi Sigma sorority and La Coterie.

Her husband of 48 years, John Griner, died in 1999.

Funeral services will be held at 11:30 a.m. today at her church, 1375 N. Stricker St.

In addition to her sister and niece, Mrs. Griner is survived by nine nephews; nine other nieces; and many great-nieces and great-nephews.

—?Frederick N. Rasmussen