EIF-B_Where We Come From

‘He inspired so many students’
Irv Meier was a dedicated
teacher, coach and mentor
BY NANCY MAYFIELD
EASTERN IOWA FARMER
When Louisa County’s 4-H
livestock judging team
went to Denver for nationals
in January 2023,
they each had a small
stone cross in their pockets in memory of a
very special mentor.
Irv Meier, the coach who had started
the club, died unexpectedly at age 72 the
previous Dec. 12 in the midst of planning
for the high school students’ trip, leaving
them keenly feeling his absence.
“It really meant something to them to
have that remembrance,” said Joyce Stover,
an assistant coach who handles travel
and logistics.
While Meier had retired as an ag teacher
and FFA leader at Wapello High School a
few years prior, he continued helping kids
grow through 4-H and FFA, said Steve
Bohlen, Wapello High School principal
and Meier’s long-time colleague.
“He inspired so many students,” Bohlen
said, noting that many went on to ag
careers.
“The program was very successful.
I’ve never seen a guy spend so much time
working on contests and seeing the success
that he did. He was dedicated,” Bohlen
said. And his students found success, earning
many awards.
“It was nice for the kids to win all those
trophies, and he was happy for them, but
he was more interested in what type of
people they became,” he said.
Meier was inducted into the 2022 Iowa
4-H Hall of Fame from Louisa County.
In her nomination, Kathy Jolly Vance
recounted how Meier grew up in the 1950s
and ’60s in Wright County.
“He was living just outside of a town
there, and he was a perfect candidate for
a 4-H club, so his parents signed him up –
and he loved it,” she said.
An Iowa State University graduate, he
taught in the Dysert School District before
Wapello. He worked with hundreds of students
through the FFA program, inspiring
students to work hard and succeed. A big
project was staging the annual Wapello
ProRodeo, which FFA students plan and
manage. Proceeds go toward the program
and for scholarships. The arena at the rodeo
grounds was named in Meier’s honor
last year.
Once he retired from teaching, “the
siren call of 4-H caught up with him,”
Vance said.
Meier approached Vance, the sinceretired
extension director at the time, with
the idea of a club for meats and livestock
judging.
He tackled that plan with the enthusiasm
that was the hallmark of his career, she
said.
What started as a small special interest
club in 2018 morphed into a team that has
seen national success, Vance said.
Stover said Meier had a way of motivating
people and supporting them.
“He was tough, but the students also had
great respect for him,” Stover said. Her
oldest son, Justin, was the FFA chapter
president while in high school. After he
was in college, Meier approached him
about applying for his American Degree.
“That would have never happened without
Mr. Meier,” Stover said. It was the first
American Degree for Wapello FFA. “He
had the kids’ respect.”
Both Bohlen and Stover laughed as they
recounted Meier’s hands-on approach,
evident from the state of the classroom.
“His room looked like a tornado sometimes.
If they were doing something for
plant identification, he had all the plants
laid out. If they were preparing for a soil
competition, the soil was there. If they
were doing dairy contest, you might go
to the refrigerator and see old cheese and
spoiled milk,” Bohlen said.
His passion for providing hands-on
learning opportunities morphed into such
projects as the school’s greenhouse built
with help from the Grimm Brothers, students
and other volunteers.
People recounted all the behind-thescenes
tasks he did that flew under the
radar, such as creating a software program
to tabulate scores for judging contests for
FFA, as well as one for wrestling scoring.
The Louisa County Livestock Judging
Team he founded placed 4th in the nation
in Louisville for North American International
Livestock Expo Livestock Judging
contest in November, under the direction
of Wyatt Orr, who took over coaching
duties. Team member Drew Totemeier
placed 4th overall and earned All-American
Status.
“These were Irv’s boys,” Stover said.
“Irv set the base, and Wyatt did an excellent
job preparing them with their workouts
locally and in Kentucky.”
When they returned from their Louisville
trip at 6 p.m. on a Wednesday night,
the team’s first stop was the Louisa County
Fairgrounds to visit the tree they had
planted in his honor. n
98 EASTERN IOWA FARMER | SPRING 2024 eifarmer.com