Patrick Jack Meyer

Patrick Jack Meyer was a gentle soul who came into the world on September 21, 1958 and left it too soon on June 13, 2016. He was born in Evreux, France and loved to claim his Norman roots. He spent several summers in the Normandy countryside as a youngster where he lived the rural life. He particularly enjoyed getting up early every morning and, in the company of a French friend, milking the cows and helping deliver the milk in tin milk pots to the villagers. Who knew?? Another great French experience was seeing the Tour de France go by in a small neighboring village. It goes by in a flash as you can imagine, and before the riders come through there is a downpour of advertisements and souvenirs – everything from paper hats to rulers. We grabbed as much as we could and I am pretty sure in between all that we saw Eddy Merckx go by. As an Air Force brat his youth was spent between France, Libya, Germany and Italy before his father retired and the family moved to Gladstone, Oregon. He loved school and learning. He would have been a wonderful teacher as he was thrilled to share his knowledge and was very patient teaching others. In high school he was part of the High Q team, a local trivia TV show. His specialty was history and science and he was a whiz at it. His finger was on the buzzer and it tapped like crazy just waiting to throw out the answer. He went to Portland State University and then on to Loma Linda University where he earned his Masters in Public Health and then started working for Multnomah County as a Health Inspector. He scared his family with stories of what went on behind restaurant doors before we even heard of Gordon Ramsay, and he drove his family nuts with constant haranguing of what had to be thrown away in the refrigerator. Patrick worked for Multnomah County for 10 years before moving to the State (where he worked for 25 years) to work in Public Health Drinking Water Services, morphing his considerable skills and bilities as a research analyst and environmental health specialist into a new skill set in database management. He played a key role in the section’s first moves into modern databases and presentation of public water system data and information. Patrick implemented the State Drinking Water Information System that is still in place today. Just after Y2K Patrick joined the Office of Information Services, supporting mostly Public Health IT systems where he brought a public health business focus. He was currently working as a Sr Systems Analyst working on the Oregon Health Authority SharePoint. In 1984 he married Karla Putman and a little later he and Karla introduced Wesley Meyer into the world. That cute little redhead was the joy of his life!! Patrick’s music collection was extensive. It ranged from the Moody Blues to Suzy Bogguss to bagpipes. He never missed an Al Stewart concert. When he was in Washington DC for work, he entered a book store and they were playing Filippa Giordano. He fell in love with her voice and bought her CD as Christmas gifts for his sisters. Unfortunately his sisters were not so in love with her as was Patrick. But he got his payback. His sister was in love with Moby and gave him his CD for his birthday. He gleefully reminded her that he could not STAND Moby and had already told her so. Oops! But Patrick’s biggest passion was the Boy Scouts. He was involved with scouting for over 20 years. Troop 107 was where he spent most of his time. You didn’t make plans with Patrick for Monday or Tuesday evening. He was doing his scout duties. He was awarded the Silver Beaver Award, which is the highest award a Council can give to a scouting volunteer. Here are just two things Patrick did to deserve it: Lewis & Clark Eagle Board Chair - Patrick would meet with every scout in the L&C District as they were preparing to advance to Eagle Scout. He would help them with their application and also review their proposed Eagle project. Upon completion of all requirements, he would help finalize their application and schedule their Board of Review, in which their application would be approved before forwarding to National for the actual award. St. Vincent DePaul Christmas Food Basket distribution / Troop 107 coordinator - Every December the troop would volunteer with St Vincent DePaul for its annual food basket distribution at the S.t Andrews Community Center. This included scouts and adults assembling all of the boxes and unloading a truck of food donations on Thursday night, and finalizing the packing of the boxes on Saturday morning, when the scouts would load the final product in volunteer cars for delivery to approximately150 homes. And then, several months ago, Patrick was awarded the Girl Scouts Thanks Badge, for his volunteering for 9 years in coordinating an event at the Girl Scout Junior Tent Camp held for the Girl Scouts of the Oregon and SW Washington Council. This event involved teaching approximately 60 - 80 girl scouts knots and lashings. Patrick involved a number of us Troop 107 leaders to conduct this class. The Thanks Badge is a national Girl Scout award, and is the second highest award an adult Girl Scout leader / volunteer can receive. This year in the council, only two persons received this award, a very select award. Many other interests were trains, the Chicago Cubs, coin collecting, reading foreign newspapers that his sister brought back from her travels, fishing, eating the crispy skin on the Thanksgiving turkey and the end of a baguette, and crossword puzzles. Patrick was a man with a sweet sense of humor and a great heart for all those around him and he will be sorely missed. ~Presented By His Sis, Catherine Very intelligent and always curious, Patrick relished learning. He also enjoyed sharing his knowledge and wisdom with others; myself, his son, his co-workers and many boy scouts through the years. He had a youthful sense of humor and loved little furry animals and creatures, like hedgehogs! He was a very patient father and truly enjoyed being one. Wesley, his son, was the biggest joy in his life. He imparted to Wesley the joys and wonders of Nature. They were a regular feature at many Boy Scout camp-outs. When I think of Pat, I think of his intense focus and ability to solve problems. What I will remember the most is his love and care that he brought to all in his circle, his fuzzy logic and his fuzzy sense of humor. ~Presented By His Wife Karla Meyer