Lovell Chronicle News Steve Shumway Meeker, 84, of Cody, died early Monday, June 12, 2006.
A kind and gentle soul, a loving brother, husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather,
he died peacefully after having spent Sunday surrounded by his family and friends.
Memorial services will be held at 10:3 0 a.m. Friday June 16 at Ballard Funeral Home, 636 19th St.
in Cody. A reception for family and friends will be held after the funeral at the Cody Elk Club, 1202 Beck Ave.
Steve was born April 19, 1922 in Lovell to Steve and Clorous Meeker. He was their first child and was
later joined by four brothers and a sister. He graduated from Lovell High School in 1941 and was an
exceptional football and basketball player, played the saxophone in school band and was student body
president his senior year.
He and his brother Earl played together on the 1941 Big Horn Basin champion basketball team and he
made the All-Conference team that year. Steve's love of basketball continued with playing with the Lovell
JC Independent Basketball Team, culminating with a win of the national American Basketball Congress
Tournament in Atlanta.
Steve was a veteran of WWII and the Korean War. He took his WWII Army basic training and combat
engineer training at Fort Belvor, Va., and served in Panama until the end of the war. During the Korean
War he served at Fort Lewis, Wash.
Steve was introduced to Betty Adams Wakeley by one of his brothers shortly after he returned home
from WWII. They were married March 16, 1946 in Billings and started a family in Lovell. They moved
to Cody in 1954 after he attended business college in Billings.
He worked at the Cody Enterprise and Ralston Plumbing & Heating before going to work as a sales
representative for Continental Emsco. He traveled the Big Horn Basin, seeing old friends and selling
drilling equipment.
He had many nicknames within the family - Tune-Tune, Junior, Dad, Pop, Grandpa, Poppa and Poppy.
He was a kind man and loved to spend t ime with his family and friends and especially enjoyed kidding
and joking with them. He also loved visiting with just about anyone, cars, fishing and watc hing basketball.
Survivors include his wife of 60 years, Betty; sons Brad of Cody, Ron and wife Tina of Cody, and
Dennis and wife Lisa of Red Lodge; grandchildren Jon and wife Deb of Salt Lake City,
Misti Reed and husband Dennis of Cody and Matt and wife Lynelle of Billings; great-grandchildren
Nicholas and Kinsie Reed of Cody; brothers Earl and wife Fern of Powell, Wes and wife
Ivalee of Lovell, Larry and wife Kay of Powell and Bob and wife Carol of R anchester; a sister Betty Ann and husband
Bentley Holyoak of Salt Lake City; many, many nieces and nephews who shared a great love of Uncle Steve.
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