Fred H. Meinershagen

Fred H. Meinershagen, 90 of Columbia, Missouri died on Tuesday, June 15, 2010, at Lenoir Woods Care Center in Columbia, Missouri. Born Thursday, January 22, 1920 in Higginsville, Missouri, he was the son of the late Daniel Meinershagen and the late Caroline Landwehr Meinershagen. He married Rebecca Buxton of Nelson, Missouri on April 21, 1947. She preceded him in death in 2002. A graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1943, he worked in the areas of farm credit and dairy production for two years before joining the Cooperative Extension Service and working in Gasconade, Cass and Johnson Counties. In 1953, he joined the faculty of the UM-C College of Agriculture, retiring in 1978 as Professor Emeritus. He received the Award of Merit of Gamma Sigma Delta, the Honor Society of Agriculture and the Leadership Award of the Missouri Dairy Hall of Honors in 1978. A member of the Missouri United Methodist Church since 1953, he has served in many of its organizational offices and committees and was president of the Foundation of the Missouri United Methodist Church for more than five years. He was a member and past president of Columbia Kiwanis Golden K, a Mason since 1946, and a life member of the State Historical Society of Missouri. He and Rebecca enjoyed genealogy. In 1971, he published The Prosperous and Diligent Blacksmith from Wersen a genealogy of Heinrich Adolph Meinershagen, his great-great grandfather who emigrated from Germany in 1836, to St. Charles County, Missouri. Meinershagen as a surname survives in the United States only through the descendants of this immigrant family. In 1984, he published 150 Years of the Hackmann Family in Missouri, the lineage of his paternal grandmother. Genealogy and Methodism added to their interest in travel. They have visited more than 40 countries including a four month stay in the Netherlands. Surviving are cousins. Memorial contributions may be made to the Missouri United Methodist Church, Columbia; or, to the Salem United Church of Christ, Higginsville. A Memorial Service will be held Friday, June 18, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. at the Missouri United Methodist Church, 3300 New Haven Rd., Columbia. Inurnment will be held at a later date at Salem Cemetery, Higginsville. Arrangements: Hoefer Funeral Home. Online condolences may be made to the family at www.hoeferfuneralhome.com

Fred H. Meinershagen

January 22, 1920 - June 15, 2010