Leander M. Meyer

Leander M. Meyer, 87 year old resident of Pierz, MN died Wednesday, January 18 at the St. Cloud VA Health System. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Monday, January 23 at 10:30 A.M. at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Pierz, MN with Father Gerald Dalseth officiting. Burial will be in the parish cemetery. Friends may gather from 3:00 to 7:00 P.M. on Sunday at Emblom-Brenny Funeral Service in Pierz, MN and from 9:00-10:00 A.M. on Monday at the funeral home. Christian Mother's will pray the rosary at 3:30 P.M. followed by Parish Prayers at 6:30 P.M. on Sunday at the funeral home. Military rites will be conducted by the Pierz American Legion Post # 341. Lee was born August 17, 1924 to the late William and Catherine (Hoheisel) Meyer on the family farm west of Buckman, MN. He attended elementary school in Buckman and then moved with his parents and two brothers to a farm five miles east of Genola, MN. As a young man, he worked with a thresing crew in central Minnesota and was a farm hand in the potato fields near Northwood, N.D.. On December 5, 1944, he was drafted into the United States Army and served in the Pacific Theatre until his discharge on November 11, 1946. On May 11, 1948, he married Catherine Marie Banach at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Pierz, MN. They lived and worked in Minneapolis, MN for one year. The couple then purchased a farm in Hillman Township, seven miles east of Pierz, MN. They started farming with a steel wheeled tractor, a team of horses and a few dairy cattle. Eventually, they purchased more land and equipment, increased the size of their dairy herd and also raised pigs and chickens. To supplement their farm income, they also harvested and sold wild rice from the local lakes and sold pulp wood to the paper mill in Little Falls, MN. In May 1986, after 36 years of farming and raising seven children, Leander and Catherine sold their 360 acre dairy farm and retired to live in Pierz, MN. Leander then worked a seasonal job at the Pierz Golf Course for 19 years, doing various maintenance tasks which included mowing the greens and fairways. He was a member of the American Legion Post #341 and St. Joseph's Catholic Parish. The past two years Leander resided at the St. Cloud VA nursing home in St. Cloud, MN. Left to cherish his memory are his wife, Catherine M. Meyer of Pierz, MN; children, Clyde Meyer of Brainerd, MN, Jerome "Jerry" (Lydia) Meyer of Eagan, MN, Cheryl (Bruce) Silva of Wolcott, CT, David (Jennifer) Meyer of Manalapan, NJ; 11 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, William and Catherine Meyer; children, LeRoy P. Meyer, Leon S. Meyer, Mary C. Schraut and Kathryn F. Meyer; brothers, Ephraem Meyer and Roger Meyer. Arrangements are with Emblom-Brenny Funeral Service in Pierz, MN.