June 29th was the day that Rudolph Johannes Meyr married Hedwig “Hattie” Josephine Schmidt at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. The marriage took place in 1920.
By 1921, Rudolph and Hattie were living in Detroit, Michigan where Rudolph was teaching at Concordia Lutheran School.
While in Detroit, this couple had their only child, Vernon Meyr. He was born on September 3, 1921. For some reason, it appears that the Meyrs moved to Miami, Florida, and Rudolph reportedly became a mail carrier. Rudolph and Hattie were only married for six years because Rudolph died on June 26, 1926 at the early age of 30. He is buried in the Trinity, Altenburg cemetery.
Vernon Meyr was raised in Altenburg and eventually became a banker at the Bank of Altenburg.
Vernon never married, and when he died in 2000, he left his estate to the Perry County Lutheran Historical Society. Vernon had been a staunch supporter and leader of this organization for most of his life. He was an avid student of history and did much to help keep the history of East Perry County alive. His estate made possible the construction of our museum in 2005.
Another of the legacies that Vernon Meyr left for us was the motto, “The Best Little Fair in the Land” which he coined for the East Perry Community Fair when he became its Publicity Chairman in 1946. He held that position until 1981.