Willard Meyer
Willard Louis “Willie” Meyer, 94, of Dorchester passed away Friday, April 9, 2021 at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon. Funeral services will be held at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, April 17 at St. Luke’s Church, Eitzen. Pastor Michael McCann will officiate. Burial with military honors will follow in the church cemetery. A visitation will be held from 9:30 a.m. until the time of service Saturday at the church.
Willard was born January 10, 1927 to Louis and Edna (Burmester) Meyer. He lived in Eitzen from 1927 until moving to the Meyer family farm near Dorchester in 1932; which later became a Century Farm in 1976. He was baptized, confirmed and a lifelong member of St. Luke’s Church in Eitzen, where he also served on the church council. Willard attended elementary school in Dorchester and then graduated from Waukon High School.
He enlisted in the United States Army during the Korean War in December of 1953. Willard was a mechanic working on trucks. He served stateside, received papers to go overseas, and later those orders were changed and he was ordered to remain stateside.
In 1954, he returned home for a brief two-week leave and married his sweetheart, Shirley, at St. Luke’s Church, Eitzen. He and Shirley enjoyed his remaining time in the service in upstate New York and New Jersey. He was honorably discharged in December of 1955. Following his military service, he lived in Eitzen until moving back to the Meyer family farm where he resided until his passing.
Willard was a hard working man doing many odds-and-ends jobs over the years. His passion was working on his family farm. He was still operating a combine until the age of 84, when he decided it was finally time to stop climbing around on machinery. Willard was a wonderful historian and loved to talk about the years past with family and friends.
Survivors include his wife, Shirley; four children, Stan (Bev) Meyer of Eitzen, Bryan (Lois) Meyer and Peggy Meyer (Richard Meiners) of Dorchester, and Lori (Bobby) Johnson of Waukon; 13 grandchildren, Amanda (Brad) Beilke, Kellie (Kevin) Moore, Mitch (Amy) Meyer, Crystal (Ross) Anderson, Cody (Nikki) Meyer, Chad (Megan) Meyer, Casey (Nathan) Alexander, Jenny (Ryan) Solum, Rob (Jenn) Burrichter, Mike (Rachel) Burrichter, Kevin (Katie) Burrichter, Cameron Johnson and Colton Johnson; 21 great-grandchildren and three more on the way; one brother-in-law, Fremont Schuttemeier; three nieces and one nephew and their families; and one sister-in-law, Carol Ashland.
Willard was preceded in death by his parents; a sister, Evelyn Schuttemeier; his father-in-law and mother-in-law, Harry and Evelyn; and one brother-in-law, Greg Meyer.
Jandt-Fredrickson Funeral Homes and Crematory, Caledonia Chapel, is in charge of arrangements. Online condolences may be offered at www.jandtfredrickson.com.
