Larry Joe Meiers

Larry Joe Meiers was born May 29, 1945 to Dean Meiers and June Norris Meiers. In his childhood he helped his father at the ice plant in Osawatomie and enjoyed participating in the Boy Scouts. He met Joe, Rick, Walt, and Karen Smith through the Boy Scouts, where their father was the assistant scoutmaster. Larry quickly became a part of the family, going on to marry Karen in 1971. They went on to have three daughters: Kristie, Heather, and Jessie.

Larry graduated from Osawatomie High School in 1963. In 1967 he served as a medic in the US Army in Vietnam, primarily at a convalescent hospital. After he returned he started working at the US Postal Service and attended Emporia State University. He graduated from ESU with a bachelor’s degree in finance in 1974. Larry continued to work for the post office for the next 30 years, working in Topeka and then serving as Postmaster in Marysville, Robinson, and Waterville. After retiring, he and Karen moved to Baldwin City in 2005.

Larry loved bowling, playing golf, watching basketball, and following the stock market. Although in his later years Parkinson’s disease made him unable to play sports, he enjoyed watching KU basketball, the Chiefs, or golf tournaments. He was always in the mood for a good chicken fried steak dinner and had fond memories of childhood root beer drinking contests with his future brothers-in-law. After a long struggle with Parkinson’s, Larry contracted a sudden infection and passed away in Lawrence on December 1, 2024.