Harold Anthony Geraets, the son of Theodore Geraets and Hildegard Susan Grellinger, was born on October 24, l925 in Rock Elm Township, Pierce County, Wisconsin. For his grammar school education he attended Tripple Hill Country School, Pierce County, and then Elmwood Public High School, Elmwood, Wisconsin. In the fall of 1943 he began his college education at Michigan College of Mining and Technology, Hougton, Michigan, but in November of that year was called to serve his country in the U.S. Army (1943-46), attaining the rank of Staff Sergeant. After discharge from the army he attended Lora s College (1946- 49) and after careful discernment of his vocation was received int o the Dominican novitiate by the Master of the Order, Father Emmanuel Suarez, at the newly-built Priory of St. Peter Martyr, Winona, Minnesota, where he was given the religious name Chrysostom.

On September 30, 1950, he made his first profession of vows at Winona and was sent to St. Thomas Aquin as Priory, River Forest, Illinois, for his philosophical studies (1950-53), earning the Ph. B. and Ph.L. degrees in philosophy from the Pontifical Faculty of Philosophy. After making his solemn profession of vows there on September 30, 1953, Chrysostom was transferred to St. Rose of Lima Priory, Dubuque, Iowa, for theological studies (1953-57). On May 26, 1956, he was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Leo Binz of Dubuque.

Father Geraet's first ministerial assignment was to Dominican College, Racine, Wisconsin (19 57- 63). where he taught philosophy and theology and served as a chaplain. In 1963 he was assigned as a missionary to the Province's Vicariate of Bolivia, where he served until his death. His interest in ethics and the social teachings of the Church had prepared him for the work of teaching and social analysis in which the Friars of the Vicariate were en gaged. After concentrated study of Spanish he arrived in Bolivia in early l964 and until l969 was a member of the staff of the Institute Boliviano de Estudio y Accion Sociales (IBEAS), in La Paz, Bolivia, serving as its director of teaching and then as president of the Institute. During this time he was chosen to be Vicar Provincial of the Vicariate for a term (1966- 69).

In 1969 Father Geraets moved to Santa Cruz, Bolivia, which was to be the scene of his missionary work for the next thirty years. His commitment to the social teachings of the Church led him to be involved in a variety of ministries: social pastoral work in the Archdiocese of Santa Cruz; Professor of Social Philosophy at the National Seminary of St. Joseph in Cochabamba, Bolivia; moderator of the University Student Center; and a collaborator in the Social Center in Santa Cruz. In time he became associated with the charismatic movement in Santa Cruz and preached the "New Pentecost in Santa Cruz." The Dominican house, known as La Mansion, became the center of a vibrant, faith-filled community and together with Father Daniel Roach became its energetic animator.

As native Bolivians began to join the Order, Father Geraets served as a spiritual director of postulants, as student master, and as a member of the Vicariate's admissions board. He was chosen to be coordinator of the Dominican communities of Santa Cruz (1986-89) and for a time also served as a member of the Vicariate Council.

In his latter years Father Geraets suffered from Parkinson's disease and in 1999 was assigned to limited service, although he continued to minister to the community of La Mansion. During the last year of his life the community lovingly cared for him as his disease gradually took him more and more from them. He died early on the morning of February 18, 2001, and was buried in the Dominican plot at Santa Cruz, Bolivia.