Geraldine was an entrepreneur and a self-help guru, who loved reading books about positive thinking and how to improve yourself. She was married for some 20 years to John Ricketts, a double-bass virtuoso who played for the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra and the National Symphony. She was well-known in the WDC area in the 1970s and 80s for her costume and formal-wear shop that offered theater-grade or authentic garments from the past. She transitioned that shop into a rental formal wear shop that supplied evening gowns and tuxedos to the VIPs of Washington. An adventure late in life was visiting Alaska in 2001, including flying in a small plane around the Mountain Denali, and seeing her son Ben working the microphone as the official guide on the Alaska Railroad in the dome car. Her son Tom followed her as an entrepreneur; she also had three grandchildren. She died January 22, 2021.

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/washingtonpost/name/geraldine-ryner-obituary?id=6126217