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Created page with "{{Infobox officeholder |name=Frederick Ray "Fred" Meyer |birth_date=December 20, 1927 |birth_place=Deerfield, Lake County<br>Illinois, USA |death_date=September 24, 2012..."
{{Infobox officeholder
|name=Frederick Ray "Fred" Meyer
|birth_date=December 20, 1927
|birth_place=Deerfield, Lake County<br>[[Illinois]], USA
|death_date=September 24, 2012 (aged 84)
|death_place=[[Dallas]], [[Texas]]
|death_cause=[[Cancer]]
|resting_place=Columbarium of Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church in Dallas
|religion=[[Presbyterian]]
|office= Texas [[Republican Party]] State Chairman
|term_start=1988
|term_end=1994
|preceded=[[George Strake, Jr.]]
|succeeded=Tom Pauken
|alma_mater=[[Purdue University]]<br>
[[Harvard]] Business Schoo]
|spouse=Barbara L. Spreuer Meyer (married 1953–2012, his death)
|children=Cheryl Lynn Bouldin<br>
Amy Meyer Barrentine<br>
Bradley Allen Meyer <br>
Five grandchildren
|residence=Dallas, Texas
|occupation=Diversified [[business]]man
}}
'''Frederick Ray Meyer''', known as '''Fred Meyer''' (December 20, 1927 – September 24, 2012), was a [[business]]man from [[Dallas]], [[Texas]], who was the state chairman of the [[Republican Party]] from 1988 to 1994. He worked in the campaigns of [[George Herbert Walker Bush]], [[George W. Bush]], [[William Phillip Gramm|Phil Gramm]], [[Kay Bailey Hutchison]], [[Rick Perry]], and [[Jeb Hensarling]].<ref name=frm>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=124420964|title=Frederick Ray "Fred" Meyer|publisher=''The Dallas Morning News''|date=September 28, 2012|accessdate=March 18, 2015}}</ref>
==Background==
Meyer was born in [Deerfield in Lake County in northeastern [[Illinois]]. His Republican family opposed [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] and joked that the [[New Deal]] agency, the [[Works Progress Administration]], or WPA, means, "We Pay Always." In 1934, the six-year-old Meyer passed out cards for his father, who ran for a school board seat in suburban [[Chicago]]. Meyer served in the [[United States Army]] and graduated in 1949 with a Bachelor of Science degree in [[mechanical engineering]] from [[Purdue University]] in West Lafayette, [[Indiana]], and [[Harvard Business School]] in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]], [[Massachusetts]].<ref name=meyer>{{cite web|url=http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/headlines/20120924-fred-meyer-businessman-who-helped-lead-gop-to-dominate-dallas-politics-dead-at-84.ece|title=Fred Meyer, who built Dallas and Texas GOP into dominant force, dies at age 84 |publisher=''The Dallas Morning News''|author=Gromer Jeffers, Jr., and Joe Simnacher|date=September 24, 2012|accessdate=March 18, 2015}}</ref>
A diversified businessman, Meyer sat on the boards of eighteen businesses and non-tax paying institutions, including five companies listed on the [[New York Stock Exchange]]. He was a chief operating officer of three firms and the chairman of the board of two others.<ref name=frm/> He was treasurer of Aladdin Industries in [[Nashville]], [[Tennessee]], and then a senior vice president and then from 1983 to 1986 president of the Tyler Corporation in Dallas.<ref name=meyer/>
Meyer from the ages of sixty-three to seventy-five was active in many avocations too: downhill skiing, marathons, professional race car driving, mountain climbing, and a three-mile daily run. He exceeded 35,000 miles in his lifetime.<ref name=frm/> He was also until the end of his life a fundraiser for the Cooper Institute and Clinic in Dallas.<ref name=meyer/>
==Political activities==
For seven years, Meyer was the Republican chairman of [[Dallas|Dallas County]]; under his tenure the county became heavily Republican in orientation for two decades but reverted to [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] majority strength in 2006. In 1972, Meyer was the campaign manager in the successful long-shot race waged by Alan Steelman, a young Republican who unseated [[Earle Cabell]] to claim Texas's 3rd congressional district, formerly filled by another Republican, [[Bruce Alger]]. Cabell was also a former mayor of Dallas. Steelman. however, gave up the seat in 1976 in a losing bid against Democratic [[U.S. Senator]] [[Lloyd Bentsen]]. Meyer was the chairman of the host committee which brought the 1984 [[Republican National Convention]] to Dallas. In 1987, Meyer lost the nonpartisan]] race for mayor of Dallas to the Democrat Annette Strauss but became state chairman the next year for the first of three two-year terms. He helped [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] [[George Herbert Walker Bush]] win the presidency over [[Michael Dukakis]], with their mutual rival, Lloyd Bentsen, seeking to succeed Bush as vice president but losing out to Republican nominee [[Dan Quayle]].<ref name=meyer/>
Himself considered a [[Moderate Republican]], Meyer sterred clear of [[primary]] rivalries but supported his party nominees across the spectrum in each [[general election]].<ref name=meyer/> One of Meyer's successors as state chairman, Susan Weddington of [[San Antonio]], by contrast, supported conservative state Representative John Shields in his unsuccessful challenge in 2002 to state Senator [[Jeff Wentworth]]. Weddington opposed Wentworth's support for [[abortion]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.texasmonthly.com/content/mr-right/page/0/6|title=Mr. Right|publisher=''Texas Monthly''|author=Karen Olsson|date=November 2002|accessdate=March 19, 2015}}</ref> From 1972 forward, Meyer was a delegate to all Republican state conventions held every even year. For nine months, he headed the Victory 2000 Committee in [[Washington, D.C.]]; his work paid off with the election of the second President Bush.<ref name=meyer/>
Former Republican state chairman [[Steve Munisteri]], who served from 2010 to 2015, said that Meyer "had an excellent reputation for building up the party’s infrastructure and taking care of the nuts and bolts of the political operations.".<ref name=meyer/> Dan Branch, a former member of the Texas House of Representative] from Dallas County recalled Meyer as "a tireless fundraiser and a tireless worker."<ref name=meyer/> Karen Hughes, the George W. Bush political operative and counsellor, described Meyer as "a mentor for me and a key influence in my life ... Fred’s leadership was absolutely instrumental in making Texas the Republican stronghold that it is."<ref name=meyer/> Jeanne Johnson Phillips, an oil company executive, said that she even postponed her wedding for a week to accommodate Meyer's fund-raising goals.<ref name=meyer/>
==Family and death==
Meyer was married to the former Barbara L. Spreuer (1929-2013), a native of Fort Wayne, [[Indiana]], who graduated from [[Indiana University]] in [[Indianapolis]]. She was a former personnel director for a chain of grocery stores.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=124420989|title=Barbara L. Spreuer Meyer|publisher=''The Dallas Morning News''|date=April 14, 2013|accessdate=March 18, 2015}}</ref> The Meyers had three children, daughters Cheryl Lynn Bouldin and Amy Meyer Barrentine, and son Bradley Allen "Brad" Meyer (1959-2007). Bradley died in Dallas at the age of forty-eight, six months after he was diagnosed with metastasized melanoma cancer. A graduate of the [[University of Texas at Austin]], he was engaged in the entertainment industry and was the president from 1990 to 2005 of Star Tickets in Austin.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=124421063|title=Bradley Allen Meyer|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=March 18, 2015}}</ref>
Meyer died of [[cancer]] in Dallas at the age of eighty-four. He, his wife, and son were [[Presbyterian]]s and are in-urned in the columbarium of the Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church in Dallas.<ref name=frm/><ref name=meyer/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meyer, Fred)}}
[[Category:Texas]]
[[Category:Tennessee]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:United States Army]]
[[Category:Presbyterians]]
|name=Frederick Ray "Fred" Meyer
|birth_date=December 20, 1927
|birth_place=Deerfield, Lake County<br>[[Illinois]], USA
|death_date=September 24, 2012 (aged 84)
|death_place=[[Dallas]], [[Texas]]
|death_cause=[[Cancer]]
|resting_place=Columbarium of Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church in Dallas
|religion=[[Presbyterian]]
|office= Texas [[Republican Party]] State Chairman
|term_start=1988
|term_end=1994
|preceded=[[George Strake, Jr.]]
|succeeded=Tom Pauken
|alma_mater=[[Purdue University]]<br>
[[Harvard]] Business Schoo]
|spouse=Barbara L. Spreuer Meyer (married 1953–2012, his death)
|children=Cheryl Lynn Bouldin<br>
Amy Meyer Barrentine<br>
Bradley Allen Meyer <br>
Five grandchildren
|residence=Dallas, Texas
|occupation=Diversified [[business]]man
}}
'''Frederick Ray Meyer''', known as '''Fred Meyer''' (December 20, 1927 – September 24, 2012), was a [[business]]man from [[Dallas]], [[Texas]], who was the state chairman of the [[Republican Party]] from 1988 to 1994. He worked in the campaigns of [[George Herbert Walker Bush]], [[George W. Bush]], [[William Phillip Gramm|Phil Gramm]], [[Kay Bailey Hutchison]], [[Rick Perry]], and [[Jeb Hensarling]].<ref name=frm>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=124420964|title=Frederick Ray "Fred" Meyer|publisher=''The Dallas Morning News''|date=September 28, 2012|accessdate=March 18, 2015}}</ref>
==Background==
Meyer was born in [Deerfield in Lake County in northeastern [[Illinois]]. His Republican family opposed [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] and joked that the [[New Deal]] agency, the [[Works Progress Administration]], or WPA, means, "We Pay Always." In 1934, the six-year-old Meyer passed out cards for his father, who ran for a school board seat in suburban [[Chicago]]. Meyer served in the [[United States Army]] and graduated in 1949 with a Bachelor of Science degree in [[mechanical engineering]] from [[Purdue University]] in West Lafayette, [[Indiana]], and [[Harvard Business School]] in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]], [[Massachusetts]].<ref name=meyer>{{cite web|url=http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/headlines/20120924-fred-meyer-businessman-who-helped-lead-gop-to-dominate-dallas-politics-dead-at-84.ece|title=Fred Meyer, who built Dallas and Texas GOP into dominant force, dies at age 84 |publisher=''The Dallas Morning News''|author=Gromer Jeffers, Jr., and Joe Simnacher|date=September 24, 2012|accessdate=March 18, 2015}}</ref>
A diversified businessman, Meyer sat on the boards of eighteen businesses and non-tax paying institutions, including five companies listed on the [[New York Stock Exchange]]. He was a chief operating officer of three firms and the chairman of the board of two others.<ref name=frm/> He was treasurer of Aladdin Industries in [[Nashville]], [[Tennessee]], and then a senior vice president and then from 1983 to 1986 president of the Tyler Corporation in Dallas.<ref name=meyer/>
Meyer from the ages of sixty-three to seventy-five was active in many avocations too: downhill skiing, marathons, professional race car driving, mountain climbing, and a three-mile daily run. He exceeded 35,000 miles in his lifetime.<ref name=frm/> He was also until the end of his life a fundraiser for the Cooper Institute and Clinic in Dallas.<ref name=meyer/>
==Political activities==
For seven years, Meyer was the Republican chairman of [[Dallas|Dallas County]]; under his tenure the county became heavily Republican in orientation for two decades but reverted to [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] majority strength in 2006. In 1972, Meyer was the campaign manager in the successful long-shot race waged by Alan Steelman, a young Republican who unseated [[Earle Cabell]] to claim Texas's 3rd congressional district, formerly filled by another Republican, [[Bruce Alger]]. Cabell was also a former mayor of Dallas. Steelman. however, gave up the seat in 1976 in a losing bid against Democratic [[U.S. Senator]] [[Lloyd Bentsen]]. Meyer was the chairman of the host committee which brought the 1984 [[Republican National Convention]] to Dallas. In 1987, Meyer lost the nonpartisan]] race for mayor of Dallas to the Democrat Annette Strauss but became state chairman the next year for the first of three two-year terms. He helped [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] [[George Herbert Walker Bush]] win the presidency over [[Michael Dukakis]], with their mutual rival, Lloyd Bentsen, seeking to succeed Bush as vice president but losing out to Republican nominee [[Dan Quayle]].<ref name=meyer/>
Himself considered a [[Moderate Republican]], Meyer sterred clear of [[primary]] rivalries but supported his party nominees across the spectrum in each [[general election]].<ref name=meyer/> One of Meyer's successors as state chairman, Susan Weddington of [[San Antonio]], by contrast, supported conservative state Representative John Shields in his unsuccessful challenge in 2002 to state Senator [[Jeff Wentworth]]. Weddington opposed Wentworth's support for [[abortion]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.texasmonthly.com/content/mr-right/page/0/6|title=Mr. Right|publisher=''Texas Monthly''|author=Karen Olsson|date=November 2002|accessdate=March 19, 2015}}</ref> From 1972 forward, Meyer was a delegate to all Republican state conventions held every even year. For nine months, he headed the Victory 2000 Committee in [[Washington, D.C.]]; his work paid off with the election of the second President Bush.<ref name=meyer/>
Former Republican state chairman [[Steve Munisteri]], who served from 2010 to 2015, said that Meyer "had an excellent reputation for building up the party’s infrastructure and taking care of the nuts and bolts of the political operations.".<ref name=meyer/> Dan Branch, a former member of the Texas House of Representative] from Dallas County recalled Meyer as "a tireless fundraiser and a tireless worker."<ref name=meyer/> Karen Hughes, the George W. Bush political operative and counsellor, described Meyer as "a mentor for me and a key influence in my life ... Fred’s leadership was absolutely instrumental in making Texas the Republican stronghold that it is."<ref name=meyer/> Jeanne Johnson Phillips, an oil company executive, said that she even postponed her wedding for a week to accommodate Meyer's fund-raising goals.<ref name=meyer/>
==Family and death==
Meyer was married to the former Barbara L. Spreuer (1929-2013), a native of Fort Wayne, [[Indiana]], who graduated from [[Indiana University]] in [[Indianapolis]]. She was a former personnel director for a chain of grocery stores.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=124420989|title=Barbara L. Spreuer Meyer|publisher=''The Dallas Morning News''|date=April 14, 2013|accessdate=March 18, 2015}}</ref> The Meyers had three children, daughters Cheryl Lynn Bouldin and Amy Meyer Barrentine, and son Bradley Allen "Brad" Meyer (1959-2007). Bradley died in Dallas at the age of forty-eight, six months after he was diagnosed with metastasized melanoma cancer. A graduate of the [[University of Texas at Austin]], he was engaged in the entertainment industry and was the president from 1990 to 2005 of Star Tickets in Austin.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=124421063|title=Bradley Allen Meyer|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=March 18, 2015}}</ref>
Meyer died of [[cancer]] in Dallas at the age of eighty-four. He, his wife, and son were [[Presbyterian]]s and are in-urned in the columbarium of the Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church in Dallas.<ref name=frm/><ref name=meyer/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meyer, Fred)}}
[[Category:Texas]]
[[Category:Tennessee]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:United States Army]]
[[Category:Presbyterians]]