Geraldine Hartley Parrish was born on November 4, 1929 to father William Arthur Hartley and mother Annie Belle Rose.  She attended and graduated from Princeton High School in 1948 and then attended King's Business School in Raleigh, NC.  Geraldine worked at radio stations WGBR in Goldsboro, NC, WKDA in Nashville, TN, and WMPM in Smithfield, NC.  In 1964, she went into the funeral business with her husband, Elton, as a bookkeeper and office manager.  She and Elton have three children, Robert, Mike, and Susan, all of whom are in the funeral business.