Meyer: Respected member of local real estate 'dynasty' remembered

Well-respected leader in the local real estate community and Vietnam veteran Thomas M. Meyer died June 25 at his home at the age of 73.

Friends, colleagues and family members spoke of him as both a leader and mentor.

Meyer was a lifelong resident of Cape Girardeau since his birth in 1949.

Graduating from Southeast Missouri State University with a degree in business administration, Meyer joined his father in the family business at Thomas L. Meyer Realty Co.

Thomas M. Meyer

Meyer touched many lives in Cape Girardeau. Fellow Realtor Tim Meredith attended a visitation for Meyer last week and noted the large number of people who came to pay their respects.

"I stood in line for a good hour and 15 minutes before I made it to the front," he said. "I first met Tom when I was a kid, and when I bought the Century 21 office, the first phone call I got was from Tom. He said I could call him for anything. And this was from a competitor. But that just wasn't Tom's way. He didn't view people as competitors."

Meyer was engaged with and committed to many community associations in Cape Girardeau. He had served as president of Evening Optimist Club, president of Habitat for Humanity, and was also a longtime member of the Southeast Missouri Realtors Association.

Association executive Terry Baker spoke of Meyer with respect and appreciation.

"He was just a good person. He was a one-of-a-kind guy. A man of integrity," Baker noted, adding, "He did the work and brought others to the table. He believed in the Realtors Association's mission of protecting property rights and the industry as a whole."

"Tom was always thinking of others," Meredith said. "He'd always be asking how we can do it better, how we can be more professional. Good enough was never good enough."

Meyer served in the Navy during the Vietnam war as a Seabee, rising to the rank of commander on the island of Diego Garcia in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

"He went into service right out of high school," said Beth McFerron, his younger sister. "He was very patriotic."

After leaving the service and throughout his life, Meyer sought to help veterans, working with the local VFW, and he was board member of Missouri Veterans Home.

"He was such a champion for veterans." Baker said.

Family man

Meyer was the oldest boy in a family of seven. McFerron said she and her siblings, even his two older sisters, looked up to Meyer as a big brother.

"Tom was always there if we needed anything." McFerron said. "Help us learn to throw a baseball, water ski, or fix my bicycle."

It seemed a career in business was always in Meyer's future.

"He was always such a little businessman," McFerron said. "Even as a small child, dressed in his church suit with his bow tie, all he needed was an attache case."

Meyer's daughter Catherine said her father was a man of few words, but when he did speak, he was full of humor.

"His teasing, eye-rolling dad jokes," Catherine said, "or obvious lies would be told with a twinkle in his eye and a mischievous grin."

She also remembered how romantic her father was toward her mother, Mary, saying the bathroom mirrors were permanently decorated with post-its that read "love you," from "Peaches," Mary's nickname for her husband.

A generous man, sometime to a fault, Meyer never gave with the intention of getting praise or acknowledgment. Catherine Meyer remembered times her father made arrangements for people struggling with rent, provided jobs and built houses with Habitat for Humanity.

Dave Soto got to know Meyer and his family while a student in Meyer's real estate school.

"Faith and family were a high priority to him." Soto said. "Tom was the one who convinced me to get my real estate license. I consider him a mentor and a great friend."

Soto served as a past president of Southeast Missouri Realtors Association, and when he was asked who should install him he said, "My first thought was Tom."

"The Meyer family is almost like a dynasty in Missouri Realtors," Soto said. "Everybody knows about the Meyers."

Leader

When Meyer returned from Vietnam, he immediately got his real estate license and went back to college to get his degree in business. He joined his father's company in 1972 and eventually took it over in 1995.

Meyer also served as president of the Missouri Association of Realtors in 1995, working with state legislators to ensure fair and affordable housing and that buyers and sellers had equal access to the real estate process. Current president John Mayfield was a student at Southeast Missouri State University when he met Meyer.

"I used to live right behind his father's real estate business," Mayfield said. "I would pass it on my way to school and stop and talk with Tom and his dad."

Mayfield looked up to Meyer who, he said, brought a level of professionalism to the position.

"Tom was a class act," Mayfield said, "and took the job and the role very professionally and seriously, and respected that position, and Tom taught me I should follow those same principles and guides."

Mayfield appreciated that the businessman was generous with his time and kind and gracious to him as a young real estate professional.

"The last time I saw Tom," Mayfield said, "was back in October during the dinner for my leadership orientation. He and his wife came over and we had a very nice visit. A lot of past presidents might not have taken the time to come over, but Tom did, and that's just the way Tom was. He was just so proud that I was president because there just haven't been that many from Southeast Missouri."

McFerron said Meyer will be missed.

"Tom loved his family, country and church, always ready to serve wherever he was needed. I will miss my mentor -- my big brother."