Kenneth John Dumeyer

Ken was the sixth of seven children born to Henry William and Mary Ann (nee Lang) Dumeyer. He was a lifelong St. Louis area resident, except for a tour of duty with the Army Air Corps in Europe during World War II. He was raised in several locations in south St. Louis during the 1920s including Missouri Ave., near Benton Park, and Potomac St., just east of Kingshighway. His formative years were spent in the Wellston area where he graduated from Normandy High School in the class of 1940. Following high school, the family moved to Lotus Ave. in north St. Louis, where he worked in a variety of jobs, eventually becoming a drill press operator by the start of World War II.

He enlisted in the Army, was assigned to the Air Corps, becoming an Engine Mechanic in the 522nd Fighter Squadron, 27th Fighter Group of the Ninth Air Force. As a member of the Ninth, he worked on various fighter aircraft, including P-47, P-51, and P-38. He saw action across western Europe following the D-Day invasion, from Normandy thru northern France and Belgium, to the Ardennes, and on into the Rhineland. He received 6 Bronze Stars, a good Conduct Medal and a Presidential Unit Citation during his service.

Following World War II, he returned to St. Louis. He pursued and obtained a private pilot license in the late 1940s and worked in air freight operations out of Lambert Field into the early 1950s. At the urging of an uncle, he applied for and received a Laborer position with the City of St. Louis Street Lighting Division in the mid 1950s. He was promoted, first to Driver, then to Electrician by 1958, and then to Foreman, South St. Louis, by 1960, a position he retained until his retirement in 1985.

He met Ruth York in 1956 through mutual friends and they were married April 19, 1958. They had two children; John, in August of 1959, and Jeanette, in December of 1961. He became a grandfather in April of 1996 with the birth of James Robert, and again in May 2002 with the birth of Stephen William.

Ken was preceded in death by his wife and parents, his brothers Henry and Walter Dumeyer, sisters Helen Stelljes and Lorraine Bruckner, and niece Sherrie Daubendiek.

The funeral service will be conducted in the chapel of Hoffmeister Colonial Mortuary, 6464 Chippewa at Watson on Wed., July 13, 2011 at 9:30 AM. Interment with full military honors will follow in Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or Heartland Hospice. Visitation will be held at Hoffmeister Colonial on Tues. from 2-8 PM. Please send condolences to www.hoffmeistercolonial.com.