November 4, 2024, 102, Goldsboro —
Lily Meachen peacefully passed away on Nov. 4, 2024, just two days after turning 102, at Mission Creek Assisted Living facility in Waukesha, Wisconsin, where she has lived since September 2021.
Lily was born on November 2, 1922, in Forbes, North Dakota, the fourth of five children of Jacob C. Schmitt and Katherine (Reule) Schmitt. Her extended family were German farmers from the Black Sea area of Russia who immigrated to the Dakotas in the late 19th century. Her family moved from the farm to Ellendale, North Dakota in the 1930s where Lily attended high school. Her father owned a bowling alley and Lily met her future husband Jim Meachen at the bowling alley where they both set pins.
Lily went on to learn secretarial skills at North Dakota State Normal School in Ellendale where Jim received his bachelor’s degree. But the war interrupted all their plans. Jim enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1942 and completed officers’ training in May 1943 at Quantico, Virginia, whereupon Lily took the train to Prince William, Virginia where they were married on May 29, 1943.
Their next move was to San Diego, where Jim was scheduled to ship out to the Pacific. Like so many young adults caught up in the war, they decided to have a child despite the possibility that Jim might not return. Jim shipped out to Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, and Guam, and Lily lived with her parents who had moved to Sacramento, California. Their son, James David, was born while Jim was overseas.
Jim survived the war and he and Lily moved to Iowa where they had three more children, Edward, Susan, and Linda. Jim, who had become a teacher, and Lily moved to Canton, South Dakota, where they both worked at Augustana Academy, a Lutheran high school. When the school closed in 1971 they moved to Michigan. They retired in 1983 and moved to Goldsboro.
Lily and Jim loved to travel, and after they retired visiting nearly every state in the lower 48. They especially loved visiting with their children and with many relatives scattered across the country. They also traveled to Europe. Jim and Lily volunteered for many years with the Wayne County Red Cross. Jim and Lily were long-time members of Good Shepard Lutheran Church in Goldsboro where they made many life-long friends. Lily moved to Mission Creek an assisted living and memory care facility in Waukesha, Wisconsin, in September of 2021 to be near her daughter, Linda, and son, Ed. She celebrated her 100th birthday with her children, grandchildren, and some of her great-grandchildren in November 2022.
Lily was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Jim, who died in 2006, and her three sisters and one brother. She is survived by her four children, Jim Meachen (Luci) of Goldsboro; Ed Meachen (Francine) of Stoughton, Wisconsin; Susan (Meachen) Skaggs of Ocean Springs, Mississippi; and Linda (Meachen) Brown of Wales, Wisconsin. She is also missed by 11 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren.
The family will receive friends on Wednesday, Nov. 13, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Seymour Funeral Home, followed by a service to celebrate Lily’s life in the funeral home chapel officiated by Rev. Sandra Burroughs and Rev. Bill Odealt. Burial will follow at Wayne Memorial Park, 2925 US 117, Dudley.
In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made in her memory to the Kitty Askins Hospice Center, 107 Handley Park Court, Goldsboro, N.C. 27534
