Vernon Louis Meyer "Dowd" was born in 1913 in St. Louis.
In 1927, a massive tornado struck St. Louis, destroying his High School (Central High). Vernon was in the school library, hiding under a table at the time. Five students at the school were killed. Vernon, with other fellow students, was sent to Roosevelt High School, where he first met Mildred Lloyd, whom he married in 1939. Mildred said she "always remembered the first time Vernon and his friend Al walked into my Sophomore English class, wearing identical checked sweaters."
In college he hung around with a group of friends, one of whom was Tom Williams, who grew up to become the playwright Tennessee Williams.
Vernon and Mildred had two daughters.
They settled in Toledo and attended Saint Agnes Catholic Church, where he sang in the choir. He worked for many years as a commercial reporter for the Hooper-Holmes Bureau. In 1963 he published a book of common songs translated into Latin called "Sing Along in Roman Latin".
He wrote a poem which won an award, one of the lines of which is on his tombstone: "Eternity's a clock that has no hands" The line after that (not on the tombstone) is "and on the face God's awful trademark stands."
Vernon died of Bladder Cancer on October 22, 1981, after a long illness. He was 68.
Vernon had always wanted to go to Europe, but was never able to. With help from the remaining insurance money, Mildred, his children and grandchildren went to London and Paris for two weeks. They dropped his old car keys into the Thames River from Tower Bridge in London, in his memory.
Mildred passed away on October 22, 1996 - 15 years to the day after Vernon.
In 1927, a massive tornado struck St. Louis, destroying his High School (Central High). Vernon was in the school library, hiding under a table at the time. Five students at the school were killed. Vernon, with other fellow students, was sent to Roosevelt High School, where he first met Mildred Lloyd, whom he married in 1939. Mildred said she "always remembered the first time Vernon and his friend Al walked into my Sophomore English class, wearing identical checked sweaters."
In college he hung around with a group of friends, one of whom was Tom Williams, who grew up to become the playwright Tennessee Williams.
Vernon and Mildred had two daughters.
They settled in Toledo and attended Saint Agnes Catholic Church, where he sang in the choir. He worked for many years as a commercial reporter for the Hooper-Holmes Bureau. In 1963 he published a book of common songs translated into Latin called "Sing Along in Roman Latin".
He wrote a poem which won an award, one of the lines of which is on his tombstone: "Eternity's a clock that has no hands" The line after that (not on the tombstone) is "and on the face God's awful trademark stands."
Vernon died of Bladder Cancer on October 22, 1981, after a long illness. He was 68.
Vernon had always wanted to go to Europe, but was never able to. With help from the remaining insurance money, Mildred, his children and grandchildren went to London and Paris for two weeks. They dropped his old car keys into the Thames River from Tower Bridge in London, in his memory.
Mildred passed away on October 22, 1996 - 15 years to the day after Vernon.
Vernon Louis Meyer "Dowd" was born in 1913 in St. Louis.
In 1927, a massive tornado struck St. Louis, destroying his High School (Central High). Vernon was in the school library, hiding under a table at the time. Five students at the school were killed. Vernon, with other fellow students, was sent to Roosevelt High School, where he first met Mildred Lloyd, whom he married in 1939. Mildred said she "always remembered the first time Vernon and his friend Al walked into my Sophomore English class, wearing identical checked sweaters."
In college he hung around with a group of friends, one of whom was Tom Williams, who grew up to become the playwright Tennessee Williams.
Vernon and Mildred had two daughters.
They settled in Toledo and attended Saint Agnes Catholic Church, where he sang in the choir. He worked for many years as a commercial reporter for the Hooper-Holmes Bureau. In 1963 he published a book of common songs translated into Latin called "Sing Along in Roman Latin".
He wrote a poem which won an award, one of the lines of which is on his tombstone: "Eternity's a clock that has no hands" The line after that (not on the tombstone) is "and on the face God's awful trademark stands."
Vernon died of Bladder Cancer on October 22, 1981, after a long illness. He was 68.
Vernon had always wanted to go to Europe, but was never able to. With help from the remaining insurance money, Mildred, his children and grandchildren went to London and Paris for two weeks. They dropped his old car keys into the Thames River from Tower Bridge in London, in his memory.
Mildred passed away on October 22, 1996 - 15 years to the day after Vernon.
In 1927, a massive tornado struck St. Louis, destroying his High School (Central High). Vernon was in the school library, hiding under a table at the time. Five students at the school were killed. Vernon, with other fellow students, was sent to Roosevelt High School, where he first met Mildred Lloyd, whom he married in 1939. Mildred said she "always remembered the first time Vernon and his friend Al walked into my Sophomore English class, wearing identical checked sweaters."
In college he hung around with a group of friends, one of whom was Tom Williams, who grew up to become the playwright Tennessee Williams.
Vernon and Mildred had two daughters.
They settled in Toledo and attended Saint Agnes Catholic Church, where he sang in the choir. He worked for many years as a commercial reporter for the Hooper-Holmes Bureau. In 1963 he published a book of common songs translated into Latin called "Sing Along in Roman Latin".
He wrote a poem which won an award, one of the lines of which is on his tombstone: "Eternity's a clock that has no hands" The line after that (not on the tombstone) is "and on the face God's awful trademark stands."
Vernon died of Bladder Cancer on October 22, 1981, after a long illness. He was 68.
Vernon had always wanted to go to Europe, but was never able to. With help from the remaining insurance money, Mildred, his children and grandchildren went to London and Paris for two weeks. They dropped his old car keys into the Thames River from Tower Bridge in London, in his memory.
Mildred passed away on October 22, 1996 - 15 years to the day after Vernon.
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