Royce Dickens Meier

Royce Dickens Meier, of Falls Church, Virginia, passed away on Tuesday, January 4, 2011 at the age of 85. A Memorial Mass will be held at 11:00 a.m., Wednesday, January 12, 2011, at St. Louis Catholic Church, 3640 Fred George Road in Tallahassee. Visitation at 10:00 a.m. at the church. Burial will follow the service at Roselawn Cemetery. Gifts in memory of Mrs. Meier may be made to the Columban Fathers, Missionary Society of St. Columban, P.O. Box 10, St. Columbans, Nebraska, 68056. Mrs. Meier was born on November 6, 1925 (Georgia Royce Goforth) in Humnoke, Arkansas to Ora and Leroy Goforth. She was graduated from Port St. Joe High School and attended Florida State College for Women and the University of Illinois, earning her bachelor’s degree in 1946. She pursued graduate studies in social work at the University of Chicago. Before attending college, she spent a summer as a Baptist missionary in Oklahoma. Mrs. Meier married Benjamin H. Dickens in 1946 and lived in Port St. Joe until 1961, where she taught at Port St. Joe High School and Highland View Elementary School. She and Ben lived in Gainesville from 1952 to 1955 while Ben attended law school at the University of Florida. She married John Gabriel Meier in 1978 after her husband Ben passed away. She moved to Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, and lived there until 1984, when John retired, and they returned to Tallahassee. After John’s death, she moved to Falls Church, Virginia, in 2003, where she devoted many hours to the care of her youngest grandchildren. Mrs. Meier was well known in Tallahassee for her hospitality and charm. She enjoyed bridge and played competitively, often with her husband John. As a teacher and homemaker, Mrs. Meier had a special concern for the needs of underprivileged children. In Tallahassee, Pennsylvania, and Falls Church, Mrs. Meier was very active in her church communities and was a member of the Lay Carmelite Communities of Tallahassee and Washington, D.C. She volunteered at Capital Hospice and Sunrise Assisted Living in Arlington, Virginia. Survivors include her children Benjamin H. Dickens, Jr., and his wife Jeanette, of Alexandria, Virginia; John Gabriel Meier, Jr., and his wife Chris of Redwood City, California; Charles O. Meier and his wife Ann of Oakland, California; William Bruce Meier and his wife Susan of San Mateo, California; Sally Meier of Binghamton, New York; Royce Sherlock and her husband Paul of Arlington, Virginia; nieces Anne Mosely Hanson, Brenda Dickens Dye, Janice Dickens Dunlap, Linda Dahl-Prince, and Cheryl Royce Kearney; and grandchildren Erich and Jessica Meier and Lucille and James Sherlock. She was preceded in death by her parents and sister Ora Lee Dahl. BEVIS FUNERAL HOME of Tallahassee (850-385-2193 or www.bevisfh.com) is handling arrangements.

Tributes

Royce Dickens Meier

November 6, 1925 - January 4, 2011