Father Elmer J. Meyer, M.M.

Father Elmer J. Meyer, M.M., who was a missioner to Peru and Chile, died Sept. 8 at Bethesda North Hospital in Cincinnati. He was 80. Ordained for the Maryknoll Fathers in 1954, he was assigned to Peru and served near Lake Titicaca where he helped set up a parish and established a church. He then served at parishes in Arequipa and Lima, 1954-1961. He spent four years in mission education and promotion work, first in Los Angeles and then in Denver. He was then assigned to Chile where he served until his retirement in 2004. He first was named pastor of a rural mission in Galvarino and then became pastor of a city parish in Temuca. In 1969 he moved to Curepto, and then on to a parish in Santiago where he served for 10 years. When the Diocese of San Bernardo was established, Maryknoll was asked to set up a parish in its poorest region. Father Meyer oversaw the building of the church and named the parish The Divine Teacher. He also set up the diocesan catechetical program. He built a team of nearly 500 women teachers in 28 parishes, who instructed not only the children, but the entire family. He was administrator of a retirement home in Santiago, 1997-2004. Born in Cincinnati, he attended Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, and then earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Maryknoll Seminary in Ossining. He is survived by his brothers, Norbert, Larry and Donald. A Funeral Mass was offered Sept. 11 at Guardian Angels Church in Cincinnati, with burial at Gate of Heaven Cemetery there. A Memorial Mass will be celebrated at a later date at Maryknoll in Ossining.