Harlan Louis Meier

Harlan Louis Meier, 84, of Davenport, passed away Tuesday, March 1, 2016 at Clarissa C. Cook Hospice House in Bettendorf. Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 5, 2016 in the Runge Mortuary Chapel. Visitation will be from 4:00 – 7:00 p.m. on Friday, March 4, 2016 at the mortuary. Burial will be in Davenport Memorial Park Cemetery. Memorials may be made to the German American Heritage Center, Iowa 4-H Foundation or North Scott Rotary. Online condolences may be expressed at www.rungemortuary.com. Harlan Louis Meier was born on November 21, 1931, the son of Harvey and Alice Klindt Meier. He was raised on the family farm near Dixon and graduated from Wheatland High School in 1950. He worked the farm with his father until he was called into the United States Army, serving in Korea. After his honorable discharge, he attended Iowa State University for a year. On August 4, 1956, he was united in marriage to Bernice Kardel at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Davenport. They began farming and besides farming, he established a farm-related business, selling limestone, fertilizer, farm chemicals, grain bins and short line farm equipment. Their sons were involved with them in the farming operation and the business. In 1997, the family was awarded the “Sweepstakes Award” for all the Soil Conservation practices installed on their land. They retired from farming in 1994 and moved to Davenport. Harlan enjoyed people and working for a good cause. He was part of the founding group that formed the Scott County Corn Growers Association. He went on to serve as director of the Iowa Corn Growers and the Iowa Corn Promotion Board, National Corn Growers, U. S. Meat Export Federation and the U. S. Feed Grains council. In 1997, he was part of a group sent to Korea on a “Food Safety Mission” and, in 2005 he was inducted into the “Recruiter Hall of Fame.” He also served several terms on the board of “Farm Credit Services of America,” for which he was State Coordinating Director. For many years he served as a township director for the Scott County Farm Bureau, where he was Chairman of the Legislation Committee and a representative for “Partners of the Scott County Watersheds.” In 2002 he was awarded the “J. R.” Underwood” award and in 2013 he was presented with the Farm Bureau’s “Distinguished Service Award.” He also served on the “Agriculture Committee” of the former “Davenport One.” He was a member of the Donahue Legion and was part of the Honor Flight sponsored by North Scott in 2014. He was a former member of the North Scott Rotary and was a “Paul Harris Fellow.” Harlan was very proud of his German Heritage and helped develop the German American Heritage Center and served as a director there for many years. He and Bernice were honored to receive the first “Legacy of Leadership” award in 2013. Through the years he and Bernice enjoyed dancing, traveling, photography and antiquing. He also enjoyed a challenging woodworking project, such as the one-horse open sleigh he built. He took pride in mowing all the grass at the “Iowa 80 Truckstop” for many years. Most of all he cherished his time spent with family – especially his beloved granddaughters. He is survived by his wife of 59 years; his son, David and daughter-in-law, Delia; and granddaughters, Nell, Lee and Lana. Harlan was preceded in death by his parents; his son, Mark; and his brother, Kenneth.