MEYER, Florence Margarite 1895-1999

HILLER, MEYER

Posted By: IA GenWeb Volunteer
Date: 9/24/2010 at 20:17:59

Decorah Public Opinion, Tuesday, June 15, 1999

Florence Meyer

Florence Meyer, of Calmar, died quietly in her sleep Thursday, June 10, 1999, at the Aase Haugen Home in Decorah, a week after her 104th birthday.

A memorial service will be held Thursday, July 8, at 11 a.m., at the Calmar United Methodist Church.

The French & Balik Funeral Home is handling arrangements. The body of the deceased had been cremated.

Florence Margarite was born June 2, 1895, in the family home at 104 E. Clark St. in Calmar, the daughter of Adolf and Caroline (Hiller) Meyer.

She was baptized at home by the Rev. Blesene of the Lutheran Church in Eldorado. Later she joined the Methodist Episcopal Church in Calmar, now the Calmar Community United Methodist Church.

After graduating from the Calmar Public High School, she attended Upper Iowa University in Fayette for two years. After teaching in several country schools in Winneshiek and Howard counties, she entered Grinnell College.

Following graduation from Grinnell, Florence was a principal at Livermore, Iowa, and Edmund, S. D. She then taught English in the Decorah and Waterloo high schools.

After receiving her master of arts degree in literature from the University of Chicago, she taught in the education department at Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, Mich.

In 1930, she was invited to join the faculty of Greeley State Teachers College in Greeley, Colo., now the University of Northern Colorado. Florence taught there 30 years, establishing life long friendships with many of her students.

She was invited by the dean of the college to co-edit with him an anthology of American stories which remained a standard college resource for many years.

In 1960 she retired to Calmar, joining her mother, brothers and sisters in the family home. With the help of neighbors and family, she was able to continue living in her home, until just before her 100th birthday, when failing strength necessitated her move to the nursing home.

During the 40 years of retirement in Calmar, she was active in the United Methodist Women's society, the South Winn Country club and as a volunteer at the Winneshiek County Memorial Hospital.

She was a generous supporter of educational, religious, charitable and social agencies: Grinnell, the University of Chicago, the University of Northern Colorado, the Calmar Public Library, and Iowa Public Radio and Television.

On behalf of her brothers and sisters, she established a fund for the maintenance and improvement of the Methodist church properties in Calmar in memory of their mother, Caroline.

Florence was an enthusiastic supporter of the Democratic party causes and candidates at all levels of government, and of liberal causes in general.

Florence enjoyed travel and established contact with her father's family in Switzerland, a contact which remains vital to the present.

Survivors include her nephew, Edward and Ilse Meyer of Calmar; four grand-nieces and nephews, Edith of Wayne, Pa., Judith of Nixa, Mo., Elizabeth of Columbus, Ohio, and Philip of Fort Sill, Okla.; and by 11 great-grand-nephews and nieces.

Florence Meyer was preceded in death by her parents, Adolf and Caroline (Hiller) Meyer; by her brothers, Edward, Frederick and Harold; and by her sisters, Edna and Verna.

Transcribed by an IA GenWeb Volunteer from obituaries found in the Howard-Winneshiek Genealogy Society Library, Cresco, Iowa.