Seymour Tribune - August 25, 2009 
Alice Elizabeth Meyer
Alice Elizabeth Meyer, Seymour, wife of the late Fulton Reynolds Meyer, died Monday. She would have celebrated her 95th birthday on Tuesday.
Her parents, Austin Ketcham and Katherine Dillman Ketcham, lived in Wausaukee, Wis., at the time of her birth, but would return to their native Bloomington while Mrs. Meyer was still an infant. She considered Bloomington her hometown and remained there for college.
She graduated from Indiana University with an A.B., majoring in sociology while paying her way through school by working for the Dean of Men. She would later entertain her family with stories of helping then IU President William Lowe Bryan sign diplomas for graduating seniors, standing behind him to whisk away the documents as quickly as President Bryan could sign them.
Her connections to Indiana, Bloomington and Indiana University were not just those of resident and student. Mrs. Meyer was a direct descendent of Col. John Ketcham, the famous Indiana pioneer who helped settle the state and was among the founding trustees for the seminary that would grow into Indiana University.
In 1936, she married Fulton Meyer. They settled in Seymour, where Mrs. Meyer worked for the Red Cross of Jackson County.
Like many women of her generation, Mrs. Meyer sent a husband off to war and then became part of the home front effort. She traveled with Mr. Meyer to south Texas to live with him while he trained in Laredo. After her husband's deployment to the European theater, she returned to Indiana and played a part in Seymour's major war contribution, the operation of Freeman Field air base, serving as secretary to its commanding officer. Through Mr. Meyer's service, the couple made many lifelong friendships and continued to participate in reunions of the 303rd Bomb Group well into the 1990s.
She returned to Indiana University as a commuter student in the late 1950s and earned a master's degree in education. She began her teaching career in Tampico, teaching business courses. It was not long before she found a permanent home in the Bartholomew County School Corp. and a special interest in elementary education. She would develop a tenderness for fifth-graders, spending the bulk of her career teaching them and once remarking that, "they're still sweet, but they're old enough to have a sense of humor."
Summer vacations gave Mrs. Meyer the opportunity to indulge in another interest, the American Saddlebred horse. A lifelong horsewoman, Mrs. Meyer rode and showed Saddlebreds when she was younger and was a member of the Jackson County Saddle Club. In later years, Mr. and Mrs. Meyer enjoyed seeing their daughter exhibit the couple's horses throughout the Midwest and Kentucky.
Travel was another one of Mrs. Meyer's interests. Even before her retirement, she began to satisfy a lifelong urge to see the world. As a teacher, she traveled with other educators - including her friend, Betty Black, also a teacher in Bartholomew County - to visit foreign classrooms in Europe, as well as schools in Hawaii.
After she finished teaching, she and Mr. Meyer visited countries throughout Europe and Asia. She concluded her world travels in her late 80s with a trans-Canadian rail adventure with Mrs. Black and a cruise through the Panama Canal with her lifelong friend, Virginia Otto, also of Seymour.
She attended Seymour's Central Christian Church, was a member of Daughters of the American Revolution, Delta Omicron chapter of Delta Delta Delta of Indiana University and a member of the Seymour chapter of Psi Iota Xi. She also held memberships in the American Saddlebred Museum, the Jackson County Humane Society, the Friends of the Library and the Indiana University Alumni Association. She and Mr. Meyer were also active members of the former Seymour Country Club, where he was the manager for many years.
Survivors include her daughter and son-in-law, Mary Ann and Roger Pardieck, Columbus; and her grandson, Duncan Teater, Washington, D.C.
An entombment will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at Riverview Cemetery, Seymour.
Friends may call from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday at Voss Chapel, Seymour.
Voss & Sons Funeral Service has been entrusted with all arrangements.