Annie Mae SPENCER MEYER

Erwin 3 May 1919 - 26 Oct 2011
See his Military Marker
*Obituary
Amarillo Golbe-News
Published 28 Oct 2011
Erwin Henry Meyer Sr., 92, of Canyon died Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011, in Amarillo.
Graveside services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday in St. Paul Lutheran Cemetery east of Canyon. Memorial services will follow at 3 p.m. in St. Paul Lutheran Church in Canyon with Pastor John Elser, VA Chaplain, officiating. Arrangements are by Brooks Funeral Directors.
Mr. Meyer, the youngest child of Henry Meyer and Helene Albers Meyer, was born on May 3, 1919, on a farm east of Canyon in a German Lutheran community. His immigrant parents raised seven children on this farm, which was not immune to the Great Depression. His early education was in a one-room school on the highway leading to Palo Duro Canyon.
As a young man, Erwin helped to build the dam at Buffalo Lake, which was a Works Progress Administration project during the depression. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps just before the beginning of World War II and married Annie May Spencer. He attained the rank of Staff Sargent and was a crew chief while stationed at Randolph Field in San Antonio.
After the war, he and his growing family returned to the Canyon area to farm a half-section of land near Buffalo Lake, which he was able to purchase under the GI Bill. There, he and Annie May raised four children in a house that he built. Unfortunately, this coincided with the drought of the 1950s, and times were tough on the dryland farm. Eventually they sold the farm and moved to Canyon, where he worked for the Texas Highway Department until retirement.
The second half of Erwin and Annie May's life was spent in a beautiful cabin Erwin built overlooking Lake Meredith. They enjoyed this time immensely and were able to take numerous trips throughout the United States.
Erwin was a devoted husband during their marriage of almost 67 years. He was a wonderful father to three daughters and one son. He set a good example for his children with his strong work ethic, and he, like all farmers of that era, worked from sun up to sun down. His gentle way and his genuine concern for his family and friends is his legacy, which his children proudly remember.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Annie; his parents; and all of his siblings.
Survivors include four children, Janie Ray of Channing, Erwin Henry Meyer Jr. and wife Janiece of Austin, Nancy Mooring and husband Jim of Amarillo and Sarah Beth Jarrett of Canyon; eight grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.
The family would like to extend a special thanks to the wonderful staff of Hospice Care of the Southwest and Phillas Rich, who took such wonderful care of him.
The family suggests memorials be to St. Paul Lutheran Church, 2600 Forth Ave., Canyon TX 79015; or Hospice Care of the Southwest, 1301 S. Coulter St., Suite 404, Amarillo, TX 79106

Married August 1942

Annie 1 Feb 1921 - 25 Jan 2009
*Obituary
Amarillo Globe-News
Published 27 Jan 2009
Annie May Meyer, 87, of Canyon died Sunday, Jan. 25, 2009.
Graveside services will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday in St. Paul Lutheran Cemetery in Canyon. Memorial services will be at 4 p.m. Wednesday in St. Paul Lutheran Church with the Rev. Terry L. Meyer, pastor, officiating. Arrangements are by Brooks Funeral Directors.
Annie May was born Feb. 1, 1921, in Alvord to James West and Annie McDonald Spencer, the eldest of four children. She moved with her family to the Texas Panhandle to what is now Borger, when she was a young child.
Her father was employed by Gulf Oil Corp., but when most of the family assets were lost at the onslaught of the Great Depression, the Spencer family moved to their farm southwest of Canyon. She graduated from Canyon High School in 1938, and attended college at West Texas State Normal College as an industrial arts major.
Before attaining her college degree, she married Erwin Meyer of Canyon in August 1942, who was stationed at Randolph Field Air Force Base during World War II. After the war, they settled on their Canyon farm and were engaged in dry-land farming for many years.
Mrs. Meyer began working for the Randall County Sheriff's Department in 1957 as bookkeeper until her retirement in 1981. She and her husband then moved from Canyon to Lake Meredith where they spent many happy years until failing health necessitated their moving back to Canyon in 2006.
A woman possessed with many talents and abilities, Annie May Meyer was an avid gardener whose lovely gardens contained many varieties of flowers, especially roses, irises, and herbs landscaped with the extensive collection of flint rock, petrified wood and other rocks acquired from many rock-collecting trips.
She was also a talented artist and woodcarver, and an accomplished pianist. She and her husband loved to travel, and her lifelong love of music, art, literature and beauty is a cherished legacy to her children and grandchildren.
Heartfelt thanks and gratitude are extended to the exceptional and loving caregivers of Hospice Care of the Southwest who have been a blessing to Mrs. Meyer and her family.
She was preceded in death by a brother, J.W. Spencer of Odessa; a sister, Helen Nunley of Hereford; and a son-in-law, Don Ray of Channing.
Survivors include her devoted husband of 66 years, Erwin Meyer; three daughters, Janie Ray of Channing, Nancy Mooring and husband Jim of Amarillo and Sarah Beth Jarrett and husband Pat of Canyon; a son, Dr. E. Henry Meyer Jr. and wife Janice of Austin; a sister, Pauline Cummins of Canyon; numerous nieces and nephews; as well as eight grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren, who dearly loved their grannie.
The family suggests memorials be to Hospice Care of the Southwest, 1500 S. Coulter St., Suite 3, Amarillo, TX 79106; Don Ray Memorial Art Scholarship Fund, WTAMU Foundation, WTAMU Box 60909, Canyon, TX 79016; or St. Paul Lutheran Church, 2600 Fourth Ave., Canyon, TX 79015.

Contributed on 1/18/14 by tootied
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