Obituary of Stanley L. Meyer

Stanley Leroy Meyer was born in Denver, Colorado. He was a very special gift to his parents James and Dorothy Sowards who adopted him at 1 month old through Catholic Charities. Stanley was brought home to Bethune, CO to join his 2-year-old sister Sheryl who was adopted previously. He was then baptized in the Catholic Church in Burlington, CO. Stanley was only 4 years old when his father passed away, leaving Dorothy to raise the 2 children. His grandparents Clord and Clara Meyer also lived in Bethune, so the children spent a lot of time with them. Most of Stanley’s childhood was spent riding his bike and playing with the neighborhood kids. He made many memories making mud pies, climbing trees and beet piles, walking the railroad tracks, and hiking to the Launchman dry creek to catch lizards. He also spent many hours playing at the school in Bethune since it was just across the street from their home. Stanley was also lucky enough to get to spend the summers out at the farm on the German Settlement where he and his sister would stay with their great aunts and uncles. The summers on the farm were exciting and he spent time helping with the daily chores on the farm, from milking cows, gathering eggs, slopping the hogs, and helping in the garden, to harvesting and digging potatoes. But the most fun Stan and his sister had was always exploring whether it be on the farm or in Bethune. When Stanley was 8 years old, his mother gave birth to a little brother named Jamie. Life was ever changing for him and the family then. His mother went back to college in Greely, CO so the family moved there for a year. He experienced a touch of city life and what it was like to go to a bigger school with 3 classes of 30 in his 3rd grade level. They lived in a nice community where they rode the bus to school and played football in the grassy spot behind their house with all the neighbor kids. It was a neat experience but moving back to Bethune was truly home for him. His grandparents were now raising his cousin Erick Meyer, so the 4 kids grew up together like siblings, even though there were quite a few years between the 2 sets of kids. Stanley spent the rest of his years at Bethune School participating in some sports at school but mostly playing driveway basketball. He could be found with many of his friends in the driveway shooting hoops until the sun went down. He graduated in 1991 with only 4 kids in his class, at the time that was one of the smallest graduating classes. He was definitely a rebel in high school and was known to buck the system. He had his hair long and liked heavy metal music in the 80’s going to several concerts in Denver with his best friend James Stahlecker. He also read the dictionary for fun and had a high-level vocabulary that he would use in his quick one liners. In 1993 he moved to Nevada where he worked and lived with his sister Sheryl and her husband Glen on the Happy Creek Ranch. He learned many things there and enjoyed the mountain scenery. When his nephew Dusty was born, he was so excited to be his God parent and was blessed to still be at the ranch when his niece Paige was born too. Life then took him back to Colorado where he met Amanda Brewer and was married in 2000 at the Burlington Christian Church where he was also baptized again. He then began his career as a guard working in Corrections at the Burlington Prison facility. He moved up through the ranks and became a Sergeant turning down the position of Lieutenant when they decided to move to Colorado Springs and work there. Later they then moved to Texas and then on to Oklahoma during his 10-year career. After that he no longer wanted a future in corrections, so he decided to use that experience to do Security. They moved back to Colorado Springs where he did private and public security for many years. He did enjoy security over corrections. But Stanley was restless and decided to go back to the mountains of Nevada and started working on the Happy Creek Ranch again in 2017. After a couple years there working for his cousin Erick Meyer, he saw a new opportunity working at a neighboring Ranch in Denio NV. Where he used his experience from Happy Creek of putting up alfalfa, into making alfalfa pellets. He liked the job at the pellet mill and the people he worked for, but after a year he felt his body couldn’t handle the physical workload anymore. So, he moved to Elko Nevada in July of 2021 and was helping Amanda in an antique store. Some of Stan’s favorite things were exploring and hiking in the mountains, rockhounding and caring for animals. He grew up with many animals and always loved having a cat. He was known for being a gentleman and always being helpful to others. His kind heart and witty sense of humor made him such a good friend. Stan passed away on November 15, 2021, in Elko, Nevada. He was preceded in death by his Father James Sowards, his paternal grandparents Stan and Betty Sowards, his maternal grandparents Clord and Clara Meyer, his uncles Clordy and Dale Meyer. He is survived by Amanda Meyer of Elko, NV, Mother Dorothy Meyer, Brother Jamie Meyer of Bethune, CO, Sister Sheryl (Glen) Thiede of Midas, NV, Cousin Erick Meyer of Bethune, CO. He is also survived by his Nephew and God Child Dusty Thiede and Nieces Paige (Colton) Vega, and Sierra Thiede of Midas, NV.