ROCKLAND, ME – John L. Meyer, II, M.D. died peacefully, Saturday, October 28, 2018 at his beloved home he had shared with his wife until her passing in April 2015.

John was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin February 3, 1924 to John L. and Bessie (Bleyer) Meyer.  He spent much of his childhood in Madison, Wisconsin  His family moved to Chicago in his later childhood, where he graduated from Senn High School, while also attending the Chicago Art Institute.  He then enrolled at Northwestern University’s Medill School in 1942 as a journalism major, but was drafted into the Army Air Corps in 1943.  He ended up being assigned to premedical studies by the Army, eventually graduating from Yale University.  He continued his medical studies, both in and out of the service, graduating with an MD degree from the Long Island College of Medicine (now SUNY Downstate) in Brooklyn, NY and earned membership in the medical honors organization Alpha Omega Alpha.

John married his long-time sweetheart, Marguerite (Midge) Richards, in June of 1949.  Dr. Meyer’s postgraduate studies included an internship at the Hartford Hospital, where Midge was a dietitian.  He received a Rockefeller grant in audio-visual medical education, which was performed at the Association of American Medical Colleges in NY City.  He then joined the US Public Health Service (USPHS), being first assigned as a films officer at the USPHS in Washington, D.C.  He next worked in Indian Health Service in Oklahoma in general medicine and surgery.  From there, John performed a residency in pathology at the USPHS Hospital in Staten Island.  After  passing his pathology boards, he worked for more than 30 years as a pathologist and laboratory director with most of these years spent at Day Kimball Hospital in Putnam, Connecticut, while he and Midge raised their six children in Thompson (and later Woodstock) Connecticut.   John and Midge retired to the Midoast of Maine in 1990, living first on Rackcliff Island and later in Rockland.

John continued to pursue his interest in art throughout his life, working in various media (water colors, oils/acrylics, sculpture and photography) but was best known for his cartooning, producing editorial cartoons for local papers in Connecticut and Maine and many caricatures that frequently delighted and sometimes vexed his subjects.  He served as a docent at the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland during many of his years in Maine.  John was an enthusiastic skier in his younger years and a devoted golfer throughout his professional and retirement years.  He also loved music and the stage, singing in church choirs, community choruses and acting in local productions of musical theater.  He especially loved Gilbert and Sullivan, being well known for his comedic turns as Koko in the Mikado and other productions.  He and Midge were long-time congregants at The Episcopal Church of St. John Baptist of Thomaston.

John was preceded in death by his wife, Marguerite R. Meyer.  He is survived by his six children, Anne Deysher of Westboro, Massachusetts; John L. Meyer III of San Diego, California; Dilys Burke of Verona, N.J.; Douglas Meyer of Dunellen, N.J.; Robert Meyer of Charlottesville, Virginia, and Thomas Meyer of Mantua, Ohio.   He had 11 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his brother, James N. Meyer, and his sisters, Jane M. Darling and Louise Jinkins.

In celebration of his life, a memorial service will be scheduled at The Episcopal Church of St. John Baptist of Thomaston at a later date when family can be properly gathered.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be sent in John’s memory to the Episcopal Church of St. John Baptist, 200 Main Street, Thomaston, ME 04861; or Hospice Volunteers of Waldo County, P.O. Box 772, Belfast, ME 04915.

To share a memory or condolence with the Meyer family, please visit their Book of Memories at bchfh.com.

Arrangements are in the care of Burpee, Carpenter & Hutchins Funeral Home, 110 Limerock Street, Rockland.