Obit: Meier, Arne R. (1939 - 2017)

Transcriber: Robert Lipprandt
bob@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Arneson, Erickson, Meier, Pearson, Risberg

----Source: The Star News (Medford, WI) 8/01/2017

Meier, Arne R. (4 OCT 1939 - 15 JUL 2017)

Arne R. Meier, 77, most recently of Milwaukee, formerly of Boston, London, Minneapolis, and dozens of other cities and towns, died early in the morning of July 15, 2017. Arne was born on Oct. 4, 1939 on the family homestead in rural Spirit to Roy R. and Helen A. (Risberg) Meier. He attended Liberty School in Spirit and Rib Lake High School.

Arne always wanted to see the world and left home immediately after high school. He liked to mention that before he turned 40, he had more mailing addresses to his name than years of age. He also valued education, receiving his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Superior, with a four year stint in the Air Force between his second and third years, a master of fine arts in theater at the University of Minnesota and doctoral work in theater at Minnesota. He spent time in the UK working at theaters in London and in Scotland, directed summer theaters throughout the Midwestern US, and finally settled near Boston, Mass., where he taught theater at a small liberal arts college. Though Arne always wanted to return to England, Boston became his home. Even after he settled back in Wisconsin, he would occasionally check how much an apartment in Boston was going for, just in case he had a chance to move back. He was a lifelong Boston Red Sox fan and attended many games at Fenway Park. He spent time with a group of writers in Boston, and wrote many short stories over the years.

In the early 1990s, Arne moved back to Wisconsin to help with his aging parents and a brother who had been diagnosed with prostate cancer, keeping the bills paid by finding odd jobs here and there. He missed the big city, though, and only stayed in Spirit for a year or two, moving first to Wausau and finally to Milwaukee in the late 1990s. He had resided since then in a small studio apartment that he loved in an old brick building, a half a block from the Marquette University campus. During his time in Milwaukee, he lived the life of a writer, taking enough work to get by but not so much that he didn’t have time to write. His apartment was littered with mementos of his travels, and he always marveled that he had spent so long in one place, almost 20 years.
One thing that Arne enjoyed the most about cities was that he could walk or ride a bus to anywhere he needed to go. He would spend hours walking through his favorite neighborhoods and enjoying the many festivals and arts events that Milwaukee had to offer. He also loved good food, hearkening back to visits to Paris, and always looked forward to the meals he would cook for himself. Back problems limited his mobility in the last years of his life, but, as long as he was able, he still managed to get out onto the bus to take a short trip to the grocery store a few times a week, to pick up a few things he needed for his dinner. He would always find time for a walk through the Marquette campus as well, which surely reminded him of all the places he had been.

Arne was married twice and divorced twice, he enjoyed living life on his own. He was preceded in death by his parents, Roy and Helen; his older brother, Ronald; his younger brother, Wesley; his brother-in-law, Eugene Erickson; his sister-in-law, Marie (Gene) Meier; and by his niece, Vicki Pearson.

Arne is survived by two sisters, Marilyn (Eugene) Erickson of Prentice and Marie (Marvin) Arneson of Ogema; one brother, Gene, of Spirit; as well as two sisters-in-law, LaVonne (Ronald) Meier and Clare (Wesley) Meier, both of Spirit. He is also survived by dozens of nephews and nieces.

Arne’s body was donated to the Medical College of Wisconsin to be used for teaching and clinical research, according to his wishes. His legacy will live on in the family he has left behind as well as in the medical students and researchers who will learn how to save other lives through the donation of his final remains.

A memorial service for Arne is being planned for this fall.