November 26, 1935 - November 27, 2018

 

Roger Meyer
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A Celebration of Life will be 11 a.m. on Friday, November 30, 2018 at the Daniel Funeral Home in St. Cloud for Roger G. Meyer, age 83, of St. Cloud. The Celebration will be officiated by Elder David Brett. Burial will take place in the Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery near Little Falls. Visitation will begin after 10 a.m. on Friday at the funeral home.
Roger Gene Meyer was born November 26, 1935, to Emil and Lillian (Schmidt) Meyer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and died on November 27, 2018 at age 83. Becoming a toddler, his family moved to Fargo, North Dakota, where his dad had a sibling living and his mother had four of her five siblings living. His most favorite memory of that time was waiting for the iceman to come to deliver a block of ice for our icebox. The iceman would always let the youngsters grab some ice chips to play with. As World War II came to an end his family moved to Moorhead, Minnesota.

While he was attending senior high school, the Korean War was on. Believing he might be drafted after graduating from high school, he decided to take all the college prep classes he could (like all the math, science and foreign language classes in high school), go to college for two years, and then volunteer for the draft and complete his college degree afterwards.

Because the Korean War ended during his senior year in high school and knowing that a G. I. Bill was created for Korean War veterans, his plans remained the same. At least that is what he thought. In January, 1955, he learned that the benefits of the Korean G. I. Bill (education, home purchasing, medical benefits for life, etc.) would end that month. So, as a sophomore, he quit college and felt he had to enlist in the Army in order to get those benefits.

Not knowing exactly what to expect, he did learn that the unexpected sometimes is mysterious and welcomed. After basic training, all those Roger lived with for 8 weeks were transferred out of Fort Riley, Kansas, as an infantry division moved in and he was transferred into this division. As this new group was going through its basic training, he served on KP for what seemed a long time. More joyfully, he was sent to a number of training sessions, most of which dealt with training to be a medic. After graduating as a medic, he was temporarily assigned as a medic to a heavy weapons platoon before being sent overseas.

In early fall 1955, he was sent to Germany. Most interesting was that traveling on a troupe ship to Germany and by the same mode returning to the United States some 27 months later, he, along with three other men, served as medics doing the overnight shift in sick bay. The hardest part was, when eating in the galley, to see the water level go up and down in the portholes.

During many of those 27 months overseas Roger was assigned to a company whose CO was a pharmacist and he helped in the dispensary. On some maneuvers he played the part of the company radio operator. On the lighter side, on leaves he spent traveling in the UK, and many European and Scandinavian countries. Perhaps the most memorable time was spent when he traveled from West Germany to West Berlin and saw the big difference in living conditions between the two groups.

Upon returning home in November 1957 and after being discharged from military service, Roger continued to seek his educational goals. He achieved what he sought- he graduated with a B.S. degree in Math ED. in 1960 and graduated with an M.S. degree in Math ED in 1961. Both degrees came from NDSU in Fargo, North Dakota.

In the late 1950s, Roger met a young woman, Jeannette Schwandt, who graduated from Fargo Business School and gained employment at a local jeweler. And, because they hit it off very well as Roger was finishing his education, they were married on August 13, 1961.

Roger taught math classes in 3 schools before arriving at SCSU in 1966 to teach for 32 years before retiring in 1998. Those other schools were two years at Karlstad, Minnesota (grades 7 through 12); two years at Emmetsburg, Iowa (grades 10 through 12 and junior college); and one year at Fayette, Iowa (Upper Iowa university level math classes).

During time spent taking classes, teaching classes and in retirement, Roger enjoyed playing softball, duplicate bridge, golf, bowling and participating, with his wife, as vendors doing craft shows for some 12 to 15 years. On a more serious note, early in his stay in St. Cloud, he began taking time off from teaching at St. Cloud to attend religious meetings east and south of Minnesota. In 1969, Roger was baptized into Yahshua’s name. Eventually, he became an Elder and gave many talks at these meetings and wrote many articles for publication in a magazine, for which he became Editor in 1999.

Roger is survived by his wife, Jeannette, of 57 years; his sons, James Meyer and Paul Meyer; his grandchildren, Nathan Meyer, Jason Meyer, Cashea Meyer and Granthem Meyer; and special friends David and Carrie Brett.

Roger has been preceded in death by his parents, Emil and Lillian (Schmidt) Meyer; and his siblings, brother Richard Meyer and sister Darlene (Meyer) Larson.

Roger's family would like to thank the nursing staff on 4th floor south at the St. Cloud Hospital for his wonderful care.

Memorials are preferred in lieu of flowers. At Roger’s request, please do not wear black, we want to celebrate his life.

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