LeRoy Meyer of Garden Center dies at 85

Long-time Alexandria businessman and community leader LeRoy Meyer died Sunday at the Douglas County Hospital.
He was 85.
A funeral service will be held this Friday, November 24 at 10:30 a.m. at the United Methodist Church in Alexandria. Visitation will take place from 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursday at the Anderson Funeral Home and for one hour before the service at the church Friday.
Meyer purchased the Garden Center bowling alley in Alexandria back in 1957 and the business has remained with the family ever since.
A former Alexandria City Council member, Meyer also served on the city’s Board of Public Works for 35 years.
He was a past president of the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce, the Runestone Museum and the Rotary Club, and served on many other community organizations.


A Leroy story from John Herdan:
I was bowling after school one day when a kid named Bob (no last name to protect the guilty but not in our class) who had been picking on me forever came in and really laid it on thick. I was really ticked and when he said let's go outside and settle it, I went.
I must have been mad because I think it was the only fight I ever won in my life. What I didn't know was that Leroy must have been watching Bob pick on me for quite some time and had come outside and watched the fight.
When the fight was over he grabbed ahold of Bob and told him to beat it and stay out of the bowling alley. He picked me up, dusted me off, put his arm around me and said, "Come on back inside, son and I'll buy you a pop."
I'd even been fighting outside with bowling shoes on and he was still on my side! He got all my business after that.

Anybody else got a memory of LeRoy? Send it to trailboss@swpub.com