One mother's life: Her children are Deborah Geithner's ‘greatest gifts’

Deborah Geithner of Orleans is the mother of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and the wife of Peter Geithner who was with the Foundation from 1968 to 1996 in the International Division and the Developing Country Programs. He is also the former president of The LAFF Society.

By Stephanie Foster

The Cape Codder

Posted May 07, 2010 @ 07:04 AM

ORLEANS '

Deborah Geithner will be alone with her husband, Peter, on Mother's Day this Sunday but she won't be lonely. Her Orleans home will be filled with flowers, laughter and the sound of a ringing phone.

One call will be from Washington, when her eldest child, Tim, 48, the Secretary of the Treasury, checks in. Sarah, 47, has already sent a card from Bangkok where she works for World Bank. Twin sons, Jon, 44, an analyst at the Center for Naval Analysis in Okinawa, and David, 44, a senior vice president at Time Inc., will telephone as well.

Geithner, a slender woman with soft russet hair and an easy smile, looks younger than her 71 years. Her home is as comfortable and relaxed as she is. Floor to ceiling windows fill the open spaces with so much light and airiness, it's like being outdoors. Shelves and tables are filled with personal treasures that range from pottery to art and collections of “lucky” striped stones she will return to the beach one day. Origami, seashells and pinecones have the same importance as Oriental carpets, a carved Chinese screen and Swiss music box.

Casual though it may be, this is a cultured home filled with books, art and music. Two Steinways form a focal point on one side and an inviting sitting area on the other. Vases of flowers are everywhere. The whole attests to her love of life in all its colors and textures.

Known as a pianist and teacher, Geithner says, “Music is my life. I love to play the piano. I've gotten involved in chamber music on the Cape. It's the making of music with other people I just love. I am crazy for it. And in my teaching, if I can expose students to pieces they love, that is all they need. Their life is enhanced.”

Geithner is surprisingly candid, a trait that keeps the Treasury's public relations department on its toes. She says she went to college to find a husband. She selected Peter Geithner, her brother's classmate at Dartmouth.

“My father brought me up to believe in diversity. It was a great coming together of people from different backgrounds. He was a government major and the captain of the basketball team and Phi Beta Kappa. He was very smart. The Navy put him through school. He was also a pilot. That was part of the whole romance. I snagged him just before my graduation. Poor Peter. He's never quite gotten over it,” she says with a laugh. “It was a good gene contribution. It was what I dreamed of.”

Peter worked for Carbon International before she urged him to take a position with an American agency in Africa. They tucked tiny Tim into a backpack when they visited ancient civilizations in Zimbabwe where Sarah was born. Later, she bore twins in Washington. But their exotic travel wasn't over. The family moved to India for five years, then Thailand for four when Peter worked for the Ford Foundation. “Obama was growing up in Indonesia when Tim was in India,” says Geithner, noting they are only two weeks apart in age.

World travel brought the Geithners closer together and the children are fiercely loyal to each other. “We had a rare life experience together. We went out as a family to foreign countries. We did a lot of traveling and grew up in strange, new houses together. We shared a lot.” With all the uprooting, she says, the Cape became the place for them to return to and provided a sense of unity in their lives.

Once a mother, always a mother

Geithner worries about all of her children. “The kids are on top of my heart list. When I wake up, I say to myself, 'Who will it be today?'” With a troubled economy, Tim is a constant. “I have anxiety about the toll it takes on his family life. He's had to make sacrifices and I don't know the half of it. I listen closely to his voice on the phone and try to read it. I worry he doesn't get enough sleep or exercise. I am very proud he is serving his country but no one had any idea of what it would be like for him, and Obama, and the whole nation.”

She displays a smiling baby photograph to prove that he does smile. “He has a great sense of humor and has always been a big tease. His high energy was apparent from the day of his birth.” Then, she points out her “shrine,” a grouping of photographs featuring Tim with the president. Her eyes crinkle in amusement. “He would be embarrassed if he knew,” she says. The other children suspect Tim is her favorite but she says it's not true.

“Tim wrote me last spring about what he thought I have given him. I've kept it. But I won't share it. It's a personal tribute. The kids are all good at writing personal notes.”

Geithner loves being a mother. “I got married to have children. I don't live through them but they are the greatest gifts of my life. I couldn't have flourished as a wife and mother without the structure and stability of my husband. I've been fortunate. I had the good fortune to be able to pick him.”