Perpetual Motion
by Jill Cousins
He moves, he grooves, and he wins medals in the swimming pool – 97-year-old Robert Geller continues to outrun Father Time.
An upbeat dance version of Celine Dion’s ballad “My Heart Will Go On” reverberates throughout the Health Center at the Village on the Green senior-living community in Longwood, as 97-year-old Robert Geller shakes his pom-poms and moves to the beat.
Surrounded by elderly residents in need of long-term care and skilled nursing, Robert is in his element during the 45-minute Sweatin’ with Helen low-impact exercise class, taught twice a week by Helen Fisher. But, despite his age, Robert is not a patient at the community’s Health Center – he’s Helen’s assistant, dancing side-by-side with her and joyfully interacting with participating residents.
“He gets a little movement in by doing the class, but the main reason Robert does it is because he loves being with the people,” Helen says. “He talks to them and plays with them. Robert’s just a wonderful person to work with, and he adds so much to the whole community.”
And, Helen adds, “Robert is a bright shining star and a stud-muffin!”
Robert has been an active resident at Village on the Green since moving into a villa there with wife Rita in 2003. Rita spent three years at the Health Center battling Parkinson’s disease before passing away in 2017. The couple had been married for 70 years.
“I got attached to the people in the Health Center while my wife was there,” Robert says. “I wanted to do the class there because I enjoy helping Helen, and I know the residents enjoy me being there. So it’s a two-way street.”
Helping Helen twice a week with the classes at the Health Center fills just a small fraction of Robert’s very busy schedule. A successful accountant who retired in 1988, Robert has been on Village on the Green’s finance committee for the past 17 years. He is also an elected member of the resident council and is on the healthcare committee.
Robert also exercises five times a week, does ballroom and line dancing, and – in addition to helping Helen in the Health Center – he takes her Sweatin’ with Helen classes twice a week at the community’s Town Center. He plays Rummikub a few times a week and used to take Spanish lessons and Zumba dance classes.
Robert first met Helen in 2017 when he began taking her water-fitness classes. When Helen started a Masters Swim Team last spring, Robert joined the group and ended up winning a silver medal in the 95-99 age group for the 25-meter freestyle at the 11th annual Rowdy Gaines Masters Classic at the YMCA Aquatic Center in Orlando this past October.
“Anything physical, anything mental, anything social – I’m involved with it,” Robert says. “When I was younger, I worked day and night. All of my social activities started when I moved into this community.”
Robert was born on July 19, 1922 in New York City. He served in World War II and even attended the Nuremberg war crimes trials before returning home in 1946. He married his wife on August 30, 1947, and earned degrees from Long Island University and New York University under the GI Bill.
Robert said he had never heard of Orlando when he answered an ad for a CPA job in 1953. Rita agreed to move under one condition: the town had to have a Chinese restaurant. There was one (and only one) in Orlando at the time, so the family came to Florida.
The Gellers raised three children: Susan Geller Burgess, Wendy Geller Kornman, and Charles Geller, all current Seminole County residents. In addition to heading the largest CPA firm in Central Florida, Robert also became a business broker, specializing in self-storage facilities.
Robert was never an athlete, except for an occasional handball game during his youth, and he claims he never danced a step, mostly because Rita was not a dancer. That certainly changed when he moved to Village on the Green.
“I was abnormally shy,” Robert says of his younger days. “I came out of my shell since I moved down here. I totally changed personalities. I was a late bloomer.”
Robert never smoked tobacco products or drank alcohol and also credits his longevity and health to good genetics. His mother lived to 98, his father to 89, and he had a grandmother who lived to 95.
“I count my blessings every day,” Robert says. “I enjoy good health – physically, mentally, and socially – and I don’t use a walker or a wheelchair. I’m just blessed, and I know it, and I keep my fingers crossed.”