Meier, Paul E.
1877-1957 | Steamfitter and Sheet Metal Worker, Alaska Railroad
Paul Emil Julius Meier was born in Saxony, Germany on October 8, 1877, the son of Frederick Herman "F.H." Meier and Johanna Deitle Meier.[1]
Paul Meier and Odilla “Odile” Olive Marcotte were married in Butte, Silver Bow County, Montana, on August 15, 1900.[2] She was born on June 26, 1877, in Manchester, New Hampshire to Lewis and Marie Odell Grennon Marcotte.
The Meiers arrived in Alaska in 1923, first landing at the town of Latouche, a small settlement located on the northwest coast of Latouche Island, at the west entrance to Prince William Sound. Paul Meier found temporary employment, either at the Beaton copper mine or in the town of Latouche close to the Beaton mine. When Latouche started to go the way of a ghost town and earning a living there became difficult, they moved to Anchorage in 1925. He almost immediately found work as a steamfitter and sheet metal worker with the Alaska Railroad.
Although Paul and Odilla Meier moved to Washington State in 1931, five of their sons remained to make their homes in Anchorage.
Odilla "Odile" Marcotte Meier died in Seattle in 1952. Her husband, Paul, died at Bremerton, Kitsap County, Washington on August 30, 1957. They are buried in the Sunset Lane Memorial Park in Port Orchard, Kitsap County, Washington.[3]
They were survived by four of their seven sons: Arthur “Art” (1905-1965), Alvin “Lovey” (1907-1972), Edwin Laurence “Eddie” (1910-1996), and Sylvan P. “Snooks” (1914-2008). They were predeceased by three sons: Paul Harry (1901-1919), Herman L. (1903-1926), and William Joseph (1914-1916). Paul Meiers’s father, Frederick, is buried at the Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery with two of his sons, Arthur and Paul.[4]
Click an image to see more
Endnotes
[1] Draft registration card, Paul Emil Meier, Local Board for Deer Lodge County, Anaconda, Montana, September 12, 1918, National Archives Microfilm Publication M1509, World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, Roll MT13, U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line], http://ancestry.com (accessed August 23, 2016).
[2] Marriage certificate, No. 6020, Paul Meier and Odilla Marcotte, August 15, 1900 [date of marriage], August 22, 1900, Butte, Silver Bow, County, Montana, Montana County Marriages, 1869-1900 [database on-line], http://ancestry.com (accessed August 23, 2016).
[3] Paul Emil Meier, Washington, Select Death Certificates, 1907-1960 [database on-line], http://ancestry.com (accessed August 23, 2016); and Odile O. Meier, U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line], http://ancestry.com (accessed August 23, 2016).
[4] Master Burial List, Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery, Municipality of Anchorage, Anchorage, AK, http:// http://hhs.muni.org/MPCWebMap (accessed August 23, 2016).
Sources
This biographical sketch of Paul Meier is based on an essay which originally appeared in John Bagoy’s Legends & Legacies, Anchorage, 1910-1935 (Anchorage, AK: Publications Consultants, 2001), 266. See also the Paul Meier file, Bagoy Family Pioneer Files (2004.11), Box 3, Atwood Resource Center, Anchorage, AK. Photographs courtesy of the Meier family. Edited by Mina Jacobs, 2012. Note: edited, revised, and expanded by Bruce Parham, August 22, 2016.
Preferred citation: Bruce Parham, ed., “Meier, Paul E.,” Cook Inlet Historical Society, Legends & Legacies, Anchorage, 1910-1940, http://www.alaskahistory.org.
Major support for Legends & Legacies, Anchorage, 1910-1940, provided by: Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, Atwood Foundation, Cook Inlet Historical Society, and the Rasmuson Foundation. This educational resource is provided by the Cook Inlet Historical Society, a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt association. Contact us at the Cook Inlet Historical Society, by mail at Cook Inlet Historical Society, Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, 625 C Street, Anchorage, AK 99501 or through the Cook Inlet Historical Society website, www.cookinlethistory.org.