Remembering Betty Rose Meyer

Saturday, January 19th, 2008, 11:00 a.m., I had the honor of being chosen to sing at funeral of Betty Meyer, who had recently passed away. She was just shy of 95. Betty had requested a baritone to sing the show tunes that she had selected to be sung at her funeral. Our Choir director called me because she knew I would be just the one to do it. The music selections were all in all quite, "unforgetable." Betty had chosen as a reflection the song "I believe," for the Offertory "You'll Never Walk Alone" from Carousel, and as a recessional, "Unforgettable," by Irving Gordon.

I have to say that since the funeral I have not been able to get the melody and words from "Unforgettable" out of my head. I think it has even been tormenting me in my sleep. Betty, I have you to blame. Truy, Betty, "Never before has someone been more.....Unforgetable...." The real clincher is that she was wheeled out of church to this song. You can imagine the image that comes to me. It's true, I'll never forget it as long as I live.

However, the other music selections seem to give a little more insight into the person that her family and friends knew so well. Three very different, and very insightful reflections were given by Steve Swan, UWGB, Mary Jane Herber, Friend, and Robert Meyer, Nephew.

Steve Swan spoke about Betty's generosity to the community, most notably the scholarship funds that she helped establish at UWGB. What touched me inside about this gift she gave was that she had said that she wanted the scholarships to go to regular students; people who maybe didn't have the highest grades, but had to work hard. She wanted them to go to people who exihbited leadership in their communities. That's a very profound observation Betty made; support the people who keep it all going in everyday life.

Mary Jane Herber told us very much about Betty as a person. She told the story of how at a dinner party she was introduced as being a bit "peppery." We were told how Betty was a very direct person who wasn't afraid to speak her mind. Mary Jane Herber told us about Betty's humility and that while she generously supported almost every major project in Green Bay, she really didn't want the recognition for it.

Finally Robert Meyer, nephew, spoke on Betty's behalf. I don't recall how exactly it was worked in, but I did appreciate that Robert stated that she was "one classy broad." You got a huge sense of Betty's love for her family and her hospitality from Robert. Robert let us know that his "Milwaukee" side of the family was always received with openness and warmness whenever they would visit Green Bay. Also, He told a cheeky story that, as he accepted his Aunt's invitation to stay over in Green Bay when he was on business, she offered him her bed. He was elated of coarse because hers was much more confortable than the other option. Only to find, that along with her bed came her husband, who snored like a locomotive.

So really Betty, I have to hand it to you, I've been to a lot of funerals, and yours was quite...Unforgetable...

Yours Truly,

LastManOut

Read more about Betty Rose Meyer at:



http://www.uwgb.edu/univcomm/news/logarchive/logarchive39/2008jan15.htm



http://www.meyertheatre.org/about/index.html