Rev. Carroll C. Meyer

  The Rev. Carroll Clifford Meyer, a retired Presbyterian minister, died suddenly on Feb. 19, 2025, in Lancaster, Ohio. He was born on Oct. 30, 1944, to Ethel “Pinkie” Coulter and Charles Herman Meyer in Toronto, Ohio, the seventh of eight children. His childhood was spent wandering the woods, plotting with his brothers, helping his father at the sawmill behind the house, and straightening up the hymn books in the pews of the Island Creek Presbyterian Church. A graduate of Jefferson Union High School, Carroll was recruited by the FBI and served with the agency for two years. He then came back home and attended the University of Steubenville, graduating in 1968. Carroll earned an M.Div. at Princeton Theological Seminary and a D.Min. at McCormick Theological Seminary. Ordained by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in 1971, he pastored Presbyterian churches in Caldwell, Minerva, East Cleveland, and Wooster, Ohio, and served as a counselor for the denomination’s Major Mission Program. His ministry emphasized nurturing congregations, advocating for social justice, and caring for the downtrodden. He read widely and assiduously kept track of current events. Carroll loved music in all forms, singing, whistling, (loudly) playing the tuba, euphonium, French horn, and saxophone. He especially enjoyed collaborating with many talented church musicians.

  Carroll contributed to each community where he lived, serving on a commission to govern the city of East Cleveland when it was in default, organizing and directing several human services entities in Caldwell, and helping to build the Wayne County Public Library as a board member, for example. Carroll married Jimmy Elaine Wilkinson on Sept. 7, 1968, and they had two sons, about whom he loved to brag. Carroll became a brother to Jimmy’s four younger siblings and a cousin to her several cousins. He retired in 2008 and enthusiastically pursued several hobbies in addition to music, including raising horses, retinning copper pans, woodworking, repairing clocks, and, always, gardening. “Next year I’ll grow fewer tomatoes, squash, potatoes,” he’d claim as he struggled to give away wheelbarrows of produce each summer. Carroll began beekeeping in Wayne County and shared the honey he harvested. His brothers also had hives; nieces and nephews continue the tradition. Carroll, his brothers, and other family menfolk began taking fishing trips together shortly after his dad died. Each trip represented a fall highlight for over 20 years. Fish stories, often embellished, abounded at family gatherings. Becoming a grandfather in 2010 was one of Carroll’s greatest joys. He gave up his mini-farm in Wayne County to move to Lancaster near his granddaughters. From infancy the girls spent much quality time with Nana and Pops—preferring to hang with Pops. Friends and family miss Carroll’s wit, his wacky sense of humor, and his caring nature. Carroll’s wife Jimmy survives, in addition to sons Bryant Clifford Meyer (Danielle Hardy) of Lorain, Ohio, and Malcolm Todd Meyer (Megan) and their daughters Eleanor, Clara, and Adelaide Meyer of Lancaster, Ohio; brothers Richard William Meyer (Jo Ann) of Bloomingdale, Ohio, and John Michael Meyer (Sharie Johnson) of Mitiwanga, Ohio; sisters Jane Fisher of Weirton, West Virginia, and Ruth Stevens of Cadiz, Ohio; sisters-in-law Mary Alice Meyer and Karen Meyer, both of Toronto, Ohio, and Rev. Dr. Nicole Wilkinson, of Cape May, New Jersey; and a plethora of much loved nieces and nephews in several generations. Carroll’s parents, brothers Paul Herman, Samuel, and Rev. C. Robert Meyer, and nephews Charles David and Nathaniel Robert Meyer died previously. A memorial service will be held on March 8, 2025, at the First Presbyterian Church at 2 West Hunter Street in Logan, Ohio. Visitation is scheduled at 10 a.m.; the service will begin at 11 a.m. Interment will be at a later date. The family requests donations to either the Hunger Fund or the Music Fund of First Presbyterian Church, P.O. Box. 833, Logan, Ohio 44138. Caring Cremation has taken place through the Frank E. Smith Funeral Home. Online condolences can be made at www.funeralhome.com