Remembering Eugene Meyer

    Eugene C. Meyer, Iowa State, passed away Thursday, May 12th at his home in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin.
    Eugene grew up on a dairy farm located in Clayton County, Iowa along the Mississippi River. He married Maxine Mallory in 1946. Eugene and Maxine raised two sons and a daughter. His wife Maxine survives him. Their son John became an honorary initiate into the Vermont Chapter of Alpha Gamma Rho in April of 2004. John is executive secretary of Holstein Association USA, Inc.
    Meyer attended Iowa State University. He became a member of the Eta Chapter in 1941. Eugene delayed his education by enlisting in the Army Air Corps in November of 1942, during World War II. He served as a navigator on a B-24 bomber plane in the 15th Air Force. He returned to Iowa State in September of 1945 to complete his bachelor’s degree.
    Brother Meyer’s career began with the WHO radio station in Des Moines, Iowa working with the Farm News Department. Eugene Meyer was on the Hoard’s Dairyman editorial staff 41 years, serving 17 years as managing editor until he retired in 1988.
    Meyer received the first Distinguished Graduate Award from the Dairy Science Club in 1978. Other honors include AGR’s Leadership in Agriculture Award; Iowa State 4-H Alumni Award; University of Wisconsin Award of Distinction; National Dairy Shrine Guest of Honor; National Milk Producers Federation Distinguished Service Award; World Dairy Expo Industry Person of the Year; Iowa State University’s Henry A. Wallace Award; and National Dairy Board’s Richard Lyng Award for Distinguished Service to Dairy Promotion and Research. Brother Meyer was also honored as one of Alpha Gamma Rho’s Brothers of the Century.

Remembering Claude Wiegers

    Claude Wiegers, Nebraska, passed away May 10th in Bastrop, Texas at the age of 104.
    Brother Wiegers graduated from the college of agriculture at Nebraska in 1924. While in college he was active in the Boy Scouts of America in Lincoln, Wayne, and Omaha, Nebraska; Boeing Aircraft in Wichita, Kansas; Wiegers Lockers and Meat in Alexandria, Nebraska; and farming. Claude was quoted stating that AGR was his greatest accomplishment at the university, which he joined to polish his education. He successfully straightened out their finances, among many other important roles in the chapter.
    During World War II, Claude helped produce Boeing B-29 bombers by monitoring blueprints for potential defects. He operated a meat locker and specialized in cured and smoked hams. He later joined his brother Howard in taking forestry, fisheries and wildlife students on educational wilderness canoe trips to the boundary waters between Canada and Minnesota.
    Claude married Eulalie Overman and they had two daughters. Claude’s memory was still strong, as he still kept busy thinking about improving his family farm with conservation measures. He did have normal health affects of aging, but still took no prescription medicine.

    Special thanks to Cheryl Alberts, the Nebraska Magazine, and the Nebraska Alumni Association for contributions to this article.


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