Cleber Daniel Meyer

     Cleber Daniel Meyer, the son of Ernest and Elsie (Krager) Meyer was born December 18, 1928 in Moneta, Iowa. His childhood years were spent in Moneta, where he received his education, played school baseball and basketball, sang in the school choir, played the clarinet, and began his love of farming.  He was one of seven members of Moneta High School’s graduating class of 1948.

     After graduation, Cleber pursued his love of cars and helping people by working at a couple of Spencer gasoline service stations.  For fun, he started the first Ladies Baseball team in Spencer and the team he coached won the 1948 Clay County League Championship.

When war broke out in Korea in 1950, Cleber enlisted in the U.S. Air Force.  After basic training in New York, Cleber was sent to advanced training in Oklahoma. He was stationed at Neubeberg Air Force Base outside of Munich, Germany.  After serving his two years, he received his honorable discharge and returned home to Spencer.

Cleber met Marlys Fie at the Trianon Roller Skating Rink in Spencer, Iowa in April 1953.  They were married on August 16, 1953 at Grace United Methodist Church in Spencer, Iowa. 

From this union, Cleber and Marlys were blessed with four children.  Dawn (Meyer) Hansen, David Meyer, Todd Meyer, and Tara (Meyer) Lopez.

Because of Cleber’s love of cars and helping people, they purchased Ray Pietz’s Service Station and it became Cleber’s Service in 1955.  Over the years, Cleber and his service station became a popular institution in Spencer and were well-known for always being good to people.  People could always find him either at the station or at one of his favorite coffee shops around town.  After months of thinking about it, Cleber and Marlys retired from business in 2008.

During that stage of his life where he was building his career, Cleber was very involved in a number of Spencer’s civic organizations.  He served more than 50 years in the Abu Bekr Shrine and Spencer’s Masonic Lodge, was a founding member and President of the Shrine’s ATV Corps, spent several decades as a member and Governor of the Loyal Order of the Moose Lodge in Spencer, and was a 50-year+ member of both the American Legion and the V.F.W.

Cleber loved Spencer and always said, “Spencer’s been good to us, we should give back.”  He served 13 years as a member of the Spencer Volunteer Fire Department in the 1950s-60s.  He served for a number of years on the Peoples Natural Gas Advisory Board.  He was appointed to the Spencer Board of Adjustments in the 1980s where he served for 8 years.  Cleber was elected Mayor of Spencer in 1994 and loved serving the people in that capacity for 10 years.

     As Mayor, he helped the city through an important growth period after the farm crisis of the 1980’s. During his mayoral tenure, the city built the Family Aquatic Center, led reinvestment in the city’s infrastructure, welcomed new companies to town, restarted the Industrial Park, and started the Deerfield Estates Development.

In leading the city, Cleber also served Spencer by being on the NW Iowa Planning and Development Commission, a member of the Policy-Making Board for the Iowa League of Cities, and was President of the NW Iowa League of Cities.

Throughout his life, Cleber taught his children and grandchildren many things.  However, his most important lessons were: the value of honesty and integrity; the importance of being good to all people; and to love your family, friends, and community.  Cleber always said, “If you walk around with a smile on your face, people will smile back, and that will make you both feel better.”

After testing positive for COVID-19 in November, Cleber passed away at the Brodstone Memorial Hospital in Superior, NE on Thursday, December 3, 2020 at the age of 91 years, 11 months, and 2 weeks.  He was preceded in death by his parents, his brother Cletes Meyer, sister-in-law Betty Meyer, brother-in-law Larry Fie, brother-in-law Elmer Gealow, son-in-law Louis Hansen, and all of his aunts and uncles.

     Left to cherish his memory are his wife, Marlys Meyer of Superior, NE; his sister, Clysta Gealow of Marshalltown, IA; his brother-in-law, Bob (and Linda) Fie of Apple Valley, CA; his sister-in-law, Jackie Fie of Sarasota, FL; his daughter, Dawn Hansen of Warsaw, MO; his son, Todd (and Lyn) Meyer of Jackson, MN; his daughter, Tara (and Jesus) Lopez of Seward, NE; his grandchildren: Haley (and Nick) Coffey of Superior, NE; Leah (and Kurt) Schnakenberg of Sedalia, MO; Liberty Meyer, Glory Meyer, and Chance Meyer of Jackson, MN; Antonio Lopez and Andres Lopez of Seward, NE;  And his great-grandchildren: Lou and Macoy  Schnakenberg of Sedalia, MO; and Katherine and Charlotte Coffey of Superior, NE.  Cleber will also be missed by his nieces and nephews, his cousins, his many friends and neighbors, and all of his coffee buddies. 

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