Beverly Sue Meyer, 78, a former librarian who loved to travel, a devout Catholic, and wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, passed away suddenly on April 17, 2013. Beverly Ann Meyer was born July 12, 1934, at Jewish Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Henrietta Rief and Ralph Ryan. She grew up in Evanston, Ohio. Her father and mother were hard-working people, with Ralph being an electrician at the University of Cincinnati and Henrietta working in a spring factory. Her cousin Bud referred to her as Suzie-Q even before she was born. The nickname of Susie stuck until after too much teasing from her classmates about the Cincinnati Zoos most popular attraction, a gorilla also named Suzie , she shorten her nickname to Sue . Mom attended St. Mark Elementary and St. Ursula Academy. While she was in grade school, she received a bicycle in a usual way. Times were tough during the war. Even though rubber was rationed, Mom received a note from her doctor so that she could get a bicycle to use to go home during the school day to take a special medication that had to be refrigerated. While in high school, Mom had a part-time job working at Jones The Florist, which was located inside the Alms Hotel. She always loved flowers and plants, and spent much time gardening. Her favorite flowers were lilies of the valley, lilacs and gardenias. If more than three bouquets were in the house at the same time, it would remind her of a funeral, but we never knew why. She especially loved maidenhair ferns but never had much luck in keeping them alive. She planted flowers and herbs in her landscaping beds and had the entire back deck covered in potted plants. Mom was very popular in high school. Her class visited Washington, D.C., on a senior trip. She had many beaus (we still have her prom corsages to prove it). Dads sister, Mary Frances (Aunt Puffy), attended St. Ursula with our mother. Mom met Dad through Aunt Puffy when she invited Mom to a sleepover at her house. Mom and Dad were married on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 27, 1952, at a morning wedding, followed by a brunch. Her mother, Henrietta, had to stay in bed due to low blood pressure and wasnt able to attend the wedding service, so Moms Aunt Mary stepped in for her sister. Henrietta recovered well enough to attend the evening reception. Dads parents, Joseph S. Meyer Sr. and his wife, Clara, were hoping for a double wedding that year with their son and daughter being married on the same day. But rumor has it that Mom wanted her own special day. Aunt Puffy did marry Uncle George in August the same year that Mom and Dad were married. Mom and Dad honeymooned for two weeks, visiting New York City to see plays and then heading over to Niagara Falls. On their return home, they were running short on money and thought that they might not have enough gas to get back home. Mom found a $5 bill hidden in her wallet, so they barely made it back to the farm. Mom and Dad started their married life living on one of Dads uncles dairy farms. Mom learned how to milk the cows. Their first son, Joe III, was born Oct. 5, 1953. Mom would drive him in the car if he wouldnt go to sleep to try to get him to nod off. The farm was scheduled to be auctioned off during the untimely death of our sister, Deborah Sue, on March 26, 1955. She was only 12 days old. Dad always said it was the saddest time in his life to lose his dream of being a farmer, his livelihood and his daughter all on the same day. The family moved to West Chester so that Dad could start his construction business while working nights at General Electric testing aircraft engines. Their second son, Keith Robert, was born Feb. 22, 1957, and was baptized at St. Johns Church. Back then, Mom could leave the boys outside on a blanket with Teddy, our collie, to watch over them. Another tragic event happened when Mom and Dad lost our sister, Kimberly Sue, on March 23, 1958. Kimberly Sue was just 11 days old. Mom and Dad lived on Dimmick Road next door to Moms parents. It was the first house Dad had built. Their third daughter, Julie Marie, was born July 29, 1960. They completed their family with their third son, James Jim Jeffery, who was born Sept. 13, 1961. Mom endured four moves in West Chester"from Dimmick Road to Julie Marie Drive to Patriot Drive to North Pisgah Drive to, finally, Ridgecrest Drive. Dad would sell the house we were living in instead of the new one he built. Mom had to pack and unpack for each move. The kids would have to switch schools because we crossed the school boundaries even if we moved just around the corner. Mom loved to decorate each home in a Colonial Williamsburg style and was an avid auction hunter, looking for antiques. She liked to drive a hard bargain when it came to bidding and always kept to her limit. Mom was an avid reader"as many as five books a week. She would read while holding the book inches from her face, with one eye open, often in a poorly lighted room, and think nothing of it. Her favorite author was Robyn Carr. When all of her children were in school, Mom decided to go to work, which upset Dad"he being the traditionalist. But Mom had an independent spirit. Her love of books and history led to her job at the local Union Township library, where she worked 17 years. Mom was a devout Catholic, practicing her faith every day, which helped her with the deaths of her two daughters and her husband who passed away on October 18, 2010. She would read her Bible every morning and recite her rosary every night. She was very active in Bible study groups and always packed her Bible when going on trips. When her hearing deteriorated, she would bring Magnificat, a monthly prayer book to church to follow along with the readings and the Gospel at Mass. After each Mass, she would visit the chapel to light a candle. She re-created church at home by lighting many candles to read by. Mom and Dad were longtime members at St. John the Evangelist Church. Mom loved music and sang in the St. John the Evangelist Church choir for years. Pachelbel Cannon in D was her favorite piece of music. She loved show tunes and plays. The Sound of Music, South Pacific and the The Lion King were some of her favorites. Most people would think that Dad was the traveler in the family, but Moms favorite trip was to her beloved Colonial Williamsburg, her idea of heaven on earth. She introduced her children, grandchildren, extended family members and friends to her most treasured place, playing tour guide. Dad surprised Mom on her 70th birthday with a trip to Colonial Williamsburg, hiding all of the kids in a hotel room to surprise her on arrival. She must have visited more than 30 times because she collected all the charms they ever made for her silver charm bracelet. Mom loved planning trips with her lady friends. She visited New York City and London several times to see plays. One of their trips to London happened to occur at the same time as Princess Dianas funeral. They also visited Paris, Holland and Ireland, right after her knee-replacement surgery to Canada in 2011. Her last trip was to New York in October 2012; she and her lady friends saw plays and played bridge at night. During their life together, Mom and Dad also traveled to Acapulco, Mexico, once as a surprise Christmas present; chartered a sailboat in the British Virgin Islands; crossed the pond to Spain twice; and visited Hawaii, Alaska and Western Canada. Mom was an artist and took classes in drawing and painting. Her favorite medium was oils but she also used acrylics and water colors. She served as a co-leader of a 4-H group. She was also an expert seamstress and made many of her own clothes. She carried swatches of fabrics in her purse, hoping to find the perfect fabric on her next trip to Colonial Williamsburg for new curtains and a dust ruffle to coordinate her bedroom to match her newly remodeled master bathroom. She liked to needlepoint, knitting and quilting. She was a perfectionist. When creating a quilt for charity, if a block wasnt quilted to her liking, she would re-create the block before assembling the final quilt. Mom loved to play cards, especially ladies and couples bridge, once a month with her dear friends. The last two times she played with her neighbors, she had really good cards. She spent hours, even late at night, playing solitaire on a computer. Its the only thing she liked about computers. She played golf and tennis, but when her knees gave out, she enjoyed watching golf tournaments and tennis matches on television. She never played poker but was a fan of championship poker shows. Her favorite television programs were game shows. She loved watching The Price is Right and Wheel of Fortune, and scheduled dinner around Jeopardy! She loved to yell out the questions to the answers. Mom enjoyed candy more than anything, and she considered it a major food group in her diet. She had bowls of it everywhere in the house and still more hidden in the cupboards. Among her favorites were Red Twizzlers, Good & Plenty, caramel creams (bulls-eyes), Hershey Kisses, jelly beans, Esther Prices milk chocolate-covered caramels, turtles and the only dark chocolate she liked, Esther Prices opera creams. Perhaps it was all that sugar that kept her alive for so long. Mom will be missed by her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, extended family and friends.
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