Tragic Details About Today Show Host Willie Geist

Willie Geist is a talker. On NBC's "Sunday Today With Willie Geist," the journalist gabs with celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow, Jon Bon Jovi, Kate Winslet, and Ryan Reynolds, getting them to reveal all their secrets in both their careers and their personal lives. Geist has been the host of that show since 2016 and also does the honors for MSNBC's "Morning Joe." He's also the New York Times best-selling author of "American Freak Show."

His career comes as no surprise to anyone who knows who his father is: Bill Geist, a journalist and author in his own right, who once interviewed Woody Allen for "Rolling Stone," in addition to winning an Emmy for his correspondence work on CBS. Willie grew up in New Jersey, a hop across the river to New York City, where he now lives with his wife and two kids. 

But as fairytale as Geist's life sounds, hanging with stars for his career and living with a loving family, there are parts of his story that are more sad than happy. The TV host has dealt with both loss and health conditions, which have affected how he spends his time. 

Willie Geist and his father, Bill Geist, are close. "Professionally and personally, my dad is my hero," Willie once told Vanderbilt Magazine. Bill spent a great deal of his career as a correspondent for "CBS Sunday Morning," earning himself two Emmy Awards along the way, and is the author of several best-selling books. Sadly, he's also living with Parkinson's disease.

Bill was diagnosed at age 47, when Willie was in high school, but didn't reveal his health condition to his son until almost a decade later. "My parents shielded us from worrying about Dad," Willie explained to Brain & Life. "He was of the mind that you shouldn't concern people with your problems." Bill has had brain surgery, is on medication, and partakes in physical therapy to help relieve some of his symptoms. He's also continued his career as an author and released another book, "Lake of the Ozarks," in 2019.

Since finding out about his father's Parkinson's, Willie has joined the Board of Directors of The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Disease, regularly participates in fundraising for research, and has become an advocate. "I try to be a proxy for Dad, tell his story if he's not up to it, and use his story to help other people," he told Brain & Life.

When Willie Geist was a teenager, he played football for the Maroons, his high school team in New Jersey. At Ridgewood High School, not only did he get cheered on from the sidelines by his girlfriend (who later became his wife), but he found a mentor in one of his coaches, Drew Gibbs, who helped lead the players to victory.

Geist returned to his hometown in the fall of 2021 for the 30th anniversary of the football team winning the state championship. He shared a moment of gratitude with Gibbs, and it was a memory he would later cherish. A month later, in November 2021, Gibbs passed away at the age of 59. "I am shocked and devastated by the news that our beloved Coach Drew Gibbs died unexpectedly this morning," Geist wrote on Instagram. "He was a formative figure in so many of our lives."

Geist's love of football continued when he attended Vanderbilt University, but instead of playing, he decided to switch gears and write about sports for the college newspaper. 

There's a story behind the name written on Willie Geist's birth certificate. Though Willie is how everyone knows him, his full name is actually William. He's not a junior because his middle name differs, but his father is also named William, more commonly known as Bill. But the family name doesn't end there.

Geist had a great uncle named William, who died in World War II at the age of 20. Days later, Geist's father was born and was named after his beloved relative. Neither have ever met the original William, but both bear his name. He's also one of the reasons Geist has shown great respect for veterans over the years and regularly posts on both Memorial Day and Veterans Day. "We're thinking today about Uncle Bill and all the men and women who died too young so the rest of us can live to grow old. Thank you," he wrote on Instagram in May 2019.

Geist has also been inspired to devote time to Operation Mend, a program run by the US Military and UCLA that works with veterans and the people who help them. Geist has been involved with fundraising and awareness, regularly attending events to support both the organization and the people who have turned to it in need. 

Thousands of lives were lost on September 11, 2001, when the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York were destroyed in a terrorist attack. Among those who died were people Willie Geist grew up knowing in Ridgewood, NJ. Twelve people from his hometown perished on 9/11, and he regularly remembers not only their loss but the impact they had on his life. 

"My next door neighbor Gina Sztejnberg was one of them. She worked on the 96th floor of the North Tower," he wrote in a heartfelt post on Instagram. He noted that she was one of the first people to befriend the Geist family when they first came to the neighborhood, and he fondly remembered taking piano lessons in her living room. "Jon Vandevander a family friend, died on the 92nd floor of the North Tower," he continued, sharing that Vandevander's wife served as a second-grade teacher in his elementary school and coached him in swimming. "We think of our friends often, but especially on this terrible day. May they continue to Rest In Peace."

Geist has also revealed his sister-in-law was in one of the towers. Fortunately, she was able to escape by running down 70 flights of stairs, despite being pregnant, but many of her colleagues did not.