Identified / In Memoriam: Tom Meyer

It's a good feeling to identify a player I had been unable to identify prior. It is a sad feeling when it takes an obituary to identify said player. This is the case with a player from the 1940's, Tom Meyer.

I really couldn't find much on him outside of his high school years and couple of seasons player pro basketball. Then I happened across his obituary on line, and saw that his real name was Henry. That was likely a big roadblock in finding him. But at least now, he is not an unknown player, and we can properly honor him here.


Biography


Henry Thomas "Tom" Meyer died peacefully in his sleep March 12, 2019. The cause of death was nothing more complicated than living a good life to the ripe old age of 96. Or as he preferred, "in his 97th year".


Born in Highland Park, Michigan on November 6, 1922, he was the fourth among six siblings. At the time of his death, he was the last of his generation in his family. An interesting reference to the length of his life was, as a child, he was proud to know "The Foley Brothers", two Civil War Veterans.


His was a life dominated almost exclusively by sports. He was a record-making high school athlete in many different sports but particularly excelled in basketball and baseball. He served time in the US Coast Guard during World War II from 1942-1945. Following his military service he played professional basketball for three years and played with the likes of George Mikan and "Sweet Water" Clifton, the first black player in the NBA. He was a police officer in Dearborn, MI and later appointed Dearborn's Civil Defense Director. In 1971 he and his family moved to Vero Beach, FL and he remained there for the rest of his life.


During his time playing professional ball, in 1947 he married Jean McFadden and was married for 59 years until Jean's death. They had four children and he is survived by all four: Timothy O. Meyer, Bow, WA, William H. Meyer, Vero Beach, FL, Claudia S. Baird, Atlanta, GA and Jane K. Dinnen, Marietta, GA. He was a grandfather to four: Erin M. Kaplan, Sedro Woolley, WA, Thomas J. Meyer, Bow, WA, Leslie K. Coonrod, Charlotte, NC and Claudia Reynolds Jones, Louisville, KY. He is also survived by six great-grandchildren.


He will be interned at a later time with his beloved wife Jean in the National Veteran's Cemetery in Canton, GA.