News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
A hushed and somber gathering of some 800 friends and family members gathered at Sisters High School on Saturday, June 4, to honor the life of Joel Meyer, who died on May 29 in an accident at Lake Shasta, California.
Those in the audience were deeply moved by the fortitude and grace Meyer’s family displayed in facing a tragedy that rocked the entire Sisters community. Joel’s mother Mary Allison, his brother Emery and his father Tony all spoke movingly of a young man full of life, love and promise and his sister Elle, along with friends from the Youth Choir of Central Oregon, sang several hymns.
Emery said that “Joel was my hero, Joel was my mentor... Joel was everything,” telling those gathered that he would have “rather had Joel for the time he was here than any other brother for a million years.”
Tony Meyer shared a letter he had written to Joel as Joel turned 21 and Tony turned 50. The letter eloquently depicted a father’s desire to share with his son the triumphs and errors of his own life as a guidepost — while acknowledging that all sons must tread their own path.
Tony said he hoped the message would encourage others to reach out to the members of their family, to seek the good graces of life and of faith and to take to heart a lesson that Tony himself had learned through parable and experience: “the longer you wait, the less you get and the more it costs.”
Tony noted that the letter was among the few items Joel packed in a duffel bag to go to Lake Shasta.
Joel’s friend Pat Burke shared memories of Joel and depicted him as a spirited, determined young man, full of fun and mischief, willing to work hard to succeed in sports when he wasn’t naturally gifted as an athlete.
He recalled Joel coming through with clutch hits that pushed the Outlaws baseball team into the state championships.
Ryder Redfield had known Joel since second grade and attended the University of Oregon with him.
Redfield witnessed the accident that took Joel’s life and recounted the shock of the moment.
Meyer, along with dozens of U of O students and students from other schools, rented houseboats and anchored at Slaughterhouse Island on Lake Shasta.
Redfield said that hot sun, lack of sleep and alcohol all played a part in causing Joel to fall from the roof of a houseboat.
He struck his head and fell into the water.
Redfield recounted how his friends dove into the water to try to find him, but, despite their best efforts, they were unable to retrieve him until two men with dive gear found him some 60 feet from where he entered the water.
The mourners followed the family out of the crowded gymnasium to the strains of “May the Circle Be Unbroken” and the family departed. Joel was laid to rest in a private ceremony at Camp Polk Cemetery.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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