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L. Gayland Myers passed away at the Golden Living Center, on Sunday, February 19, 2012. He was 87 years old.
Known for his craftsmanship and attention to detail, Gayland was a carpenter who built countless hundreds of custom homes throughout northwestern Missouri using blueprints and stick lumber. He could use his carpenter’s square to flawlessly calculate the geometric sequence required to lay out the rafters of a steeply-pitched hip roof. He built apartment complexes, starter homes and palaces, all with the same degree of care and skill.
Gayland was a lifetime member of the carpenters union, a past member of the Pickering Lions Club and the First Christian Church of Pickering. He held the Honorary State Farmer degree from the Missouri Future Farmers of America.
He loved horses, woodworking, storytelling and fishing from a pond bank. Most of all, he cherished his family.
Born on January 17, 1925, Lewis Gayland Myers was the son of Earl and Mary Myers, Grant City.
He is survived by his loving wife of 67 years, Arlene (formerly Florence Arlene Shelman, of Sheridan). Married on May 23, 1944, the couple farmed for a brief periods in Worth and Gentry Counties. Gayland took up carpentry and moved his growing family to the greater Kansas City area in the early 1950s.
Seeking to escape the city and provide a high-quality rural lifestyle for their family, Gayland and Arlene moved to 80 acres on Canal Branch north of Maryville in 1963, where they, along with their two sons and daughter, soon built the house where the couple lived until very recently.
The couple has three children, Gary A. (Jackie) Myers, Jefferson, Wis., Gerald L. Myers, DVM, Pickering, and Peggy Sue (Scot) Richey, Platte City.
Gayland took special joy and pride in his five grandchildren, Sarah (Jason) Cleaver, Muskego, Wis., Philip Myers, Rochester, N.Y., Beth (Patrick) Richey-Sullivan, Stevenson Ranch, Calif., Madelyn Myers, Waltham, Mass., and Arlie Myers, Omaha, and two great-granddaughters, Lacey and London Cleaver, Muskego, Wis. He also held great affection for three step-grandchildren, Mike (Julie) Reilly, Ankeny, Ia., Katherine Reilly, Moline, Ill., and Brian (Beth) Reilly, Omaha.
Gayland is also survived by one sister, Mary Elizabeth Proctor, Vancouver, Wash., his sister-in-law, Ella Mae McGinness, Stillwater, Minn., two step-brothers, Franklin Thackery, St. Joseph, and Russell Thackery, of Oregon, and a step-sister Rosemary Alloway, of Washington, as well as numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and an abundance of personal friends.
L. Gayland Myers passed away at the Golden Living Center, on Sunday, February 19, 2012. He was 87 years old.
Known for his craftsmanship and attention to detail, Gayland was a carpenter who built countless hundreds of custom homes throughout northwestern Missouri using blueprints and stick lumber. He could use his carpenter’s square to flawlessly calculate the geometric sequence required to lay out the rafters of a steeply-pitched hip roof. He built apartment complexes, starter homes and palaces, all with the same degree of care and skill.
Gayland was a lifetime member of the carpenters union, a past member of the Pickering Lions Club and the First Christian Church of Pickering. He held the Honorary State Farmer degree from the Missouri Future Farmers of America.
He loved horses, woodworking, storytelling and fishing from a pond bank. Most of all, he cherished his family.
Born on January 17, 1925, Lewis Gayland Myers was the son of Earl and Mary Myers, Grant City.
He is survived by his loving wife of 67 years, Arlene (formerly Florence Arlene Shelman, of Sheridan). Married on May 23, 1944, the couple farmed for a brief periods in Worth and Gentry Counties. Gayland took up carpentry and moved his growing family to the greater Kansas City area in the early 1950s.
Seeking to escape the city and provide a high-quality rural lifestyle for their family, Gayland and Arlene moved to 80 acres on Canal Branch north of Maryville in 1963, where they, along with their two sons and daughter, soon built the house where the couple lived until very recently.
The couple has three children, Gary A. (Jackie) Myers, Jefferson, Wis., Gerald L. Myers, DVM, Pickering, and Peggy Sue (Scot) Richey, Platte City.
Gayland took special joy and pride in his five grandchildren, Sarah (Jason) Cleaver, Muskego, Wis., Philip Myers, Rochester, N.Y., Beth (Patrick) Richey-Sullivan, Stevenson Ranch, Calif., Madelyn Myers, Waltham, Mass., and Arlie Myers, Omaha, and two great-granddaughters, Lacey and London Cleaver, Muskego, Wis. He also held great affection for three step-grandchildren, Mike (Julie) Reilly, Ankeny, Ia., Katherine Reilly, Moline, Ill., and Brian (Beth) Reilly, Omaha.
Gayland is also survived by one sister, Mary Elizabeth Proctor, Vancouver, Wash., his sister-in-law, Ella Mae McGinness, Stillwater, Minn., two step-brothers, Franklin Thackery, St. Joseph, and Russell Thackery, of Oregon, and a step-sister Rosemary Alloway, of Washington, as well as numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and an abundance of personal friends.
Of special importance to Gayland was fellow horse lover and long-time family friend, Jill Wittwer, Maryville.
Gayland was preceded in death by his parents, his step-mother, Mary Thackery, two sisters, Melba June Adams and Earlene Yates, both of Grant City, a brother, Charles Myers, of Alton, Ill., and a step-sister, Jewell Hooker, of Washington.
The Myers Family wishes to gratefully acknowledge the loving attention of caregiver Nancy Lyle, the staff at the Golden Living Center, Maryville, and the team at DaVita Dialysis Center, St. Joseph.
Friends are encouraged to attend services at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 23, at the Bram Funeral Home, Maryville. Burial will take place at Prairie Chapel Cemetery, Denver, after the services.
