Our beloved Josef Baiddou died on August 7, 2022, at the age of 45. He was a compassionate, creative, hard-working, and loving family member and friend. His adult life was not easy. He struggled with periods of severe psychosis from at least the age of 20. He worked hard to manage his illness without mainstream medications. He was a distance trail runner, practiced yoga, and sat in meditation for hours at a time. He earned a degree from Southern Oregon University in biology, creative writing, and Indigenous Studies in his mid-20s. He nearly completed a program in Massage Therapy when he was 33. He often dreamed of creating a healing center where people could access alternative treatments for the trauma and pain he knew we all carried. He wanted to help people be well.

Many people meditate using a phrase like “may all beings be free from suffering.” For Josef, that goal was the main focus of his psychotic periods. He believed he could feel the pain of all living beings and tried to understand some way all could be released from suffering together. It was as if the pain of the world cracked open his heart and psyche, and he could not find a lasting way to put himself together again.

He had several periods of stability in his adulthood when he was a wonderful presence in the lives around him. In his periods of psychosis, he often experienced paranoia – a horrible way to suffer that led him to isolate– and was unpredictable. Even when paranoid and isolated, though, he could recount in detail events he had shared with family and friends. His memory was remarkable. The love he felt from his aunts and uncle, cousins, and many, many friends was still available to him, even in his periods of isolation and suffering.

Josef is missed by his aunt Gail Geiger and her husband Steve Brehm, who offered him comfort and fun throughout his life; his uncle Hal Geiger who he adored as a child, and who was generous with his time, along with his wife Sigrid Dahlberg; and aunt Maureen Geiger, with whom Josef shared a spiritual sensibility, and her husband George Miller. Josef’s great aunt Evelyn Geiger offered loving support, especially in Josef’s troubled years. He was the oldest of 5 cousins who he adored: Beth and Will Geiger, Carl and Hank Brehm, and Walt Miller. Josef’s mother, Shirlee Geiger, and her wife Sarah Cook stayed present for Josef in his struggles in every way they could think of.

Josef was preceded in death by his grandfather, William McDade Geiger, and his grandmother, Beverly Claiborne Geiger, with whom he shared a special bond.

Gifts in his memory could be directed to NAMI. 

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