This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Mayer, Smith, Aldrich, Lescarbeau, Fischer, Hero, Flory, Knight, Trieb, Henderson, Rorvick, Nowacki Classification: Obituary Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/3FC.2ACI/3668 Message Board Post: Edward W. Mayer, 68 Thursday, July 22, 2004 Edward Wallace ”Eddie” Mayer, 68, of Hudson, who had a lifelong fascination for airplanes, died Wednesday, July 14, at the Crystal (Minn.) Care Center after a lengthy illness. Prior to his death he had been owner/manager of Mayer Aviation for more than a quarter of a century at the Lake Elmo, Minn., Airport. He was born May 4, 1936, in Hudson, the son of Edwin W. and Leora (Smith) Mayer. Through his father, he was a direct descendant of John Nicholas Mayer, who was one of the pioneers of the German Settlement southeast of Hudson in June 1852. His mother, Leora Smith Mayer, was a descendant of Dr. Philip Aldrich, Hudson’s postmaster in 1848. In 1954 he graduated from Hudson High School and then attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Milton College and University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. He joined the Hudson unit of the Wisconsin National Guard in 1958 that was activated by the U.S. Army during the Berlin Crisis in 1961-62 and he served in Fort Lewis, Wash. After military duty he returned to Hudson and was associated with his father in the milk-hauling business and later took employment with the Kermott Agency. On June 11, 1964, in Golden Valley, Minn., he was married to Marcia Kay Lescarbeau. His interest in airplanes became a reality when he started flying and instructing in 1966 at Lake Elmo Airport. By 1969 he was managing the Elmo Aero Flight School and later, in 1972, founded Mayer Aviation at Lake Elmo, a business he owned and operated until 2003 when he became ill. Throughout his life he maintained a great interest in the career and activities of the celebrated Wisconsin architect Frank Lloyd Wright and became a near-authority on the subject. He read all the biographies of the architect and was familiar with every aspect of the man’s stunning and innovative buildings. He visited many of the structures designed by the famed architect. He had a strong love for dogs, especially Scotties and Westies. Over the years he had a series of pet dogs, and each one was always named “Duncan.” Survivors are his wife, Marcia; a daughter, Stephanie (Michael) Fischer of Plymouth, Minn.; a son, Edward W. “Jed” (Claire Hero) Mayer of Christchurch, New Zealand; two grandsons, Miles and Noah Fischer; his father, Edwin W. Mayer of Sarasota, Fla.; two sisters, Carol (George) Flory of Sarasota, and Judy (Paul) Knight of Tucker, Ga.; a brother, Andrew G. (Lu Anne) Mayer of Hudson. Preceding him in death were his mother, Leora Mayer, in 1946 and stepmother, Ruth Virginia (Trieb) Mayer, in 2002. Funeral services were at 2 p.m. Tuesday, July 20, at the O’Connell Family Funeral Home in Hudson. Jeffrey Henderson and Frank Rorvick, longtime friends, gave the eulogies, and his sister-in-law, Lu Anne Mayer, read a reminiscence that had been written by Jed Mayer, who was unable to attend the service. Visitation was at 1:30 p.m., prior to the service. Burial was in Willow River Cemetery in Hudson. During the service several pilot friends conducted a fly-over near the burial site in their planes. Kurt Nowacki of Minneapolis gave a eulogy at the interment service. Memorials are preferred to the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. © 2004 Hudson Star-Observer - Reposted by permission http://www.hudsonstarobserver.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=11226&SectionID=3&SubSectionID=54&S=1