Ivan Arthur Meyer, age 97, passed away on Friday, February 3, 2023 at Hermann Area District Hospital.
Ivan was born September 11, 1925, in Berger, Missouri. He was the son of Arthur William Meyer and Nettie Marie (nee Forderhase) Meyer. Ivan grew up on the family farm near Berger, MO.
He was preceded in death by his father and mother, his mother’s sister, Lillie Gruber and her husband, Walter Gruber.
He is survived by his cousins on his mother’s side, Myron Edward Gruber and Carolyn Bette Poese along with their families, and many friends and staff members from the Hermann Area District Hospital.
Ivan attended the Lower Bottom Grade School and graduated in 1938. He graduated from Hermann High School in 1942 at age 16. He preferred the surrounding of the small grade school to the larger high school.
He was confirmed in 1939 by St. John’s Evangelical Church in Berger, where he attended with his parents. Carolyn Poese was baptized the same Sunday Ivan was confirmed.
He farmed his birthplace farm from 1942 until 1984, many of those years with his father. He acted as care giver to his parents as they aged. He never married.
Ivan’s hobby was walking in the outdoors, from his farm to the Missouri River and later on the streets of Hermann. He loved major league baseball, closely following the St. Louis Browns and Cardinals. In his life he attended three Browns games and at the age of 96 he could still recite details of those games, such as the Browns winning the World Series in 1944 versus Boston.
Ivan could detail all of the Missouri River floods beginning in 1935 and knows the height of the water in his house during those floods. Because of flooding, he moved to Missouri hill country from 1986 to 1996. In 1996, he moved to the Hermann Area District Hospital.
Ivan requested cremation with no funeral service. Burial will be at St. Johns Cemetery, Berger, with a private burial.