Elaine Meier

Elaine M. Meier, age 96 of Sauk Centre, passed away peacefully, surrounded by her family on Monday, April 1, 2024 at her home at Lakeshore Estates in Sauk Centre, Minnesota.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held 11 a.m. Saturday, April 6 at St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Sauk Centre with Rev. Mark Botzet officiating. Inurnment will be held in the parish cemetery at a later date. 

Visitation will be from 10 to 10:45 a.m. Saturday at the church. 

Elaine Margaret Neville was born December 29, 1927 at her parent’s farm near Olivia, Minnesota. Her parents were Michael J. Neville and Kathryn Dillon. She was the fifth child in a family of six. Elaine attended elementary school in District #73 in Renville County and two years at the Aloysianum Catholic grade school in Olivia. She was a student four years at the Olivia Public School and graduated as valedictorian in 1944. Elaine enrolled in the Teacher Training Program at Glencoe and after one year of training accepted employment in District #126 and later in District #73, Renville County.

She married Donald Meier on August 25, 1948. Donald was a student at Elgin Watchmakers College in Elgin, Illinois. They remained in Elgin until August of 1949 when Donald began a three-year apprenticeship in a jewelry store in Luverne, Minnesota. In 1953, the couple purchased a jewelry store in Bird Island, Minnesota and later purchased Meier’s Jewelry in Sauk Centre in 1959. In the ensuing years, Elaine taught 19 years in the Chapter I/Title I federal program after receiving many credits in remedial work from St. Cloud State College. She taught remedial math and reading in grades one through five, until retiring in 1991.

Elaine was a member of St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Sauk Centre where she served as a Eucharistic Minister and was part of the Faith Sharing Group. She was a member of the Christian Mothers, Gradatim Federated Women’s Club, Stearns County Homemakers, Sauk Centre Senior’s, and R.E.A.M.

Survivors include her children, Daniel (Susie) Meier of Charlotte, North Carolina, Lawrence (Clare Dingley) Meier of St. Paul, and Leanne Meier of White Bear Lake; three grandchildren, Michelle Meier, Patrick Meier, and Karla Meier.   

Elaine was preceded in death by her husband, Donald Meier; parents; brother, John Neville; and sisters, Marietta Rozeske, Lucille Neville, Clare Kodet, and Evelyn Nere.