Profiles: WWII Era:

Theodore J. Meyer


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Credit: Courtesy of Theodore J. Meyer.

Theodore J. Meyer was studying in the D. H. Hill Library on Sunday, December 7, 1941, when the silence was interrupted by a growing murmur about Pearl Harbor. As soon as he could, he enlisted in pilot training in the Army Air Corps. He flew scores of missions in India and Burma between 1944 and 1945. He was sitting in another library, this time in Karachi, when he heard about the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Upon returning to the United States, Meyer married and enrolled at NC State in rapid succession. His wife, Jean, worked at Ivey's department store and for the Bureau of Statistics on campus. After obtaining his B.S. in engineering in 1948, Meyer enjoyed a long and successful career in textiles business management. Following his retirement in the mid-1980s, he founded his own consulting firm, Greenwood Engineering, Inc., and volunteered for Executive Services in Macedonia.

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Credit: Courtesy of Theodore J. Meyer.

"Married for five minutes," in November 1945.

"Jean and I . . . had become engaged [in 1944] and we were talking about what we were going to do and how we were going to live. About that time the publicity came out about the GI Bill. We looked at that and thought that we could do that if Jean worked and I worked a little bit and particularly if we didn't have children. . . . I think the decision was pretty well made then that we wanted to face up to the future with a degree."

–Theodore J. Meyer.

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Credit: Courtesy of Theodore J. Meyer.

The Meyers and the Maxwells.

The Meyers lived with the Maxwell family at 16 Dixie Trail in Raleigh for a few months before securing their own tiny apartment on Maiden Lane, across the street from the Belltower.

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Credit: Courtesy of Theodore J. Meyer.

Ted Meyer entertains his wife Jean (center) and friends Alice and Babs.

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Credit: Courtesy of Theodore J. Meyer.

Married for five decades, and then some.

 

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