Earl Henry Meyer, Osage City
1932 - 2008
Earl Henry Meyer of Osage City died Friday, March 21, 2008, at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. He was 75.
Mr. Meyer, with his brother, Carl, owned and operated the Meyer Brothers farm northeast of Osage City since 1956.
The son of Charles Frederick and Laura Thompson Meyer, he was born July 10, 1932, at Osage City. He attended District No. 3 for six years before he attended Osage City Junior High School. He graduated from Osage City High School in May 1950, where he was a member of the National Honor Society. He received a football scholarship to Kansas State University in Manhattan and the last three years of college was on the first team. He played on the North team in the North-South Shrine Bowl in 1953. He was a member of Phi Delta Theta.
In college he was a member of the R.O.T.C. program and upon graduation in 1954, was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He trained at Fort Benning, Ga., and his unit was sent to Germany in April 1955, where he completed his term of active service. When he returned from Germany, he joined the 129th Transportation Company of the U.S. Army Reserves at Osage City and earned the rank of Major. He commanded the unit for 12 years, then commanded the 821st Transportation Battalion in Topeka before he retired from the Army Reserve in 1977.
He married Dorothy Van Horn on June 13, 1954, and they moved to the Meyer farm. She survives.
Mr. Meyer was a member of the United Methodist Church in Osage City. He was a lifetime member of American Legion Robert Hazier Post 198, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Kansas State University Alumni Association. He was a member of the Osage City school board; a member and treasurer of the Dragoon Township board for several years; and served on the boards of Rural Water District 7, the Citizen’s State Bank and the Farm Bureau.
He is also survived by one son, Charles Meyer of Osage City; two daughters, Mary Mariner of Topeka and Julie Friesen of Kansas City, Kan.; one brother, Carl Meyer of Osage City; one sister, Margaret Jones of Lawrence; and five grandchildren.
The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at the United Methodist Church in Osage City. The Rev. Francis Stockton will conduct the service. Burial will be in Osage City Cemetery. The family will meet friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the VanArsdale Funeral Chapel in Osage City.
The family suggests that, instead of flowers, memorial contributions be made to the church or American Legion Post 198 and sent in care of the funeral home, 107 N. Sixth St., Osage City, KS 66523.