By Cody Berry

Anyone who grew up reading the Saline Courier, or perhaps even the Democrat or the Gazette before their merger, will know the name Ron Meyer. Well, we’re happy to report that as of September 5, 2024, the Gann Museum now has hundreds more of his artworks to keep and share with our visitors. Pat Stuckey, formerly of the Saline Courier, managed to save several of Ron’s artworks and she donated them to the Gann Museum. We are forever grateful to her for saving this historic collection because Ron Meyer was a Saline County legend. 

Ronald Edward Meyer was born on October 18, 1938, in Little Rock to Velma Irene Maghar Meyer and Raymond Edward Meyer. Meyer’s parents divorced when he was ten years old, leaving him to be raised by his mother and her parents. Meyer attended church at Geyer Springs, and he graduated from Central High School in Little Rock in 1956. After that, Meyer joined the United States Marines for which he served most of the time at Camp Pendleton in California. Meyer worked as a mortar gunner. This occupation contributed to his lifelong hearing loss. 

On February 5, 1960, Meyer married Jimmy Shores. They had three children: Ronald Stuart, Kelly Elizabeth, and James Shores Meyer. Meyer finished his military service in the reserves in Little Rock in 1962. Despite having never attended college, Meyer was mostly self-taught as an artist. In 1961, Sam Hodges of the Benton Courier (now Saline Courier) hired Meyer, and Meyer stayed there until he retired in 2003. Ron Meyer passed away in 2016. Through his art, Ron Meyer documented much of the history of modern Saline County. For this and more, he is a local legend. The Ron Meyer collection is currently being scanned and remastered, and will be available as an online archive on the Gann Digital Collection.

Thank you, Pat for this donation!

Citations:

¹ Cody Lynn Berry, “Ronald Edward (Ron) Meyer (1938-2016),” CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas, https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/ronald-edward-meyer-14493/, Date Accessed 9/5/2024.