Gayland Myers

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 hundred of custom homes throughout northwestern Missouri using blueprints and stick lumber. He could us his capenter’s square to flawlessly calculate the geometric sequence required to lay 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 American.

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, MO). Married on May 23, 1944, the couple farmed for a brief period 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, MO.
Gayland took great joy and pride in his five grandchildren, Sarah (Jason) Cleaver, Muskego, Wis., Philip Myers, Rochester, N.Y., Beth (Patrick) Richey-Sullivan, Stevenson Ranch, CA., Madelyn Myers, Waltham, Mass., and Arlie Myers, Omaha, NE., and two great granddaughters, Lacey and London Cleaver, Muskego, Wisc., He also held great affection for three step-grandchildren, Mike (Julie) Reilly, Ankeny, IA, Kathering Reilly, Moline, Ill., and Brian (Beth) Reilly, Omaha, NE.

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, MO., and Russell Thackery, of Oregon, and step-sister Rosemary Alloway, of Washington, as well as numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and an abundance of person friends.

Of special importance to Gayland was fellow horse lover and long-time family friend, Jill Wittwer, Maryville, MO.

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 of Golden Living Center, Maryville, and the team of DaVita Dialysis Center, St. Joseph.

Friends are encouraged to attend services at 1:30 PM on Thursday, February 23, 2012 at the Bram-Danfelt Funeral Home, Maryville, MO. Burial will take place at Prairie Chapel Cemetery, Denver, MO after the service.

No formal visitation is planned, but friends may call at the funeral home after 1:00 PM Wednesday, February 22.