Ed Geoffrion Announced as Chairman of the Springfield Board of Governors

The Springfield Shriners Hospital is excited to welcome Ed Geoffrion, a long-standing Melha Shriner, as the new Chairman of our local Board of Governors.

Ed’s history with Shriners International dates back to December of 1971, when he became a Melha Shriner, following in the footsteps of his uncle, who was the Potentate of Melha Shriners in 1977. Over the years, Ed has been the musette-playing president of Melha’s Oriental Band; the treasurer and two-time president of the Melha Riders, a group of motorcycle enthusiasts; a member of the vintage autos unit and as a veteran, the Legion of Honor.

In 2012, Ed joined our local Board of Governors as an associate, and soon became a voting member in 2013. He said this role has been his favorite and most rewarding “job” ever since. Ed remembers the first time he stepped foot in the original hospital (before a rebuild in 1990), and is proud to see how far we have come. That moment has stuck with him almost 50 years later.

“I am looking forward to the hospital continuing to grow, thrive and fill an important need in the community for the next 95 years, and I am grateful to be a part of that process,” he explained. “Knowing that I am capable of doing something that helps the community is my greatest honor.”

Something you may not know about Ed is that he is a fourth degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do – an incredible milestone he reached the same month he turned 70.

“As a Melha Shriner myself, I am thrilled to welcome Ed into this leadership role,” said Lee Kirk, hospital administrator. “His discipline, experience and dedication to the mission of Shriners Hospitals for Children help to build the foundation for what it takes to excel as a great leader, and I am looking forward to working together.”