Harry D. Van Meter, age 91, of Altoona, FL, formerly of Hillsboro, IL, passed away on Friday, June 27, 2014 at 2:27 a.m. at Lake View Terrace, Altoona, FL. Visitation will be held on Saturday, July 26, 2014, from 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. with a memorial service to be held at 11:00 a.m. at Bass Patton Dean Funeral Home, Hillsboro, IL. Rev. Tom Compton, Pastor of Assumption First United Methodist Church, Assumption, IL will officiate. Inurnment will be in Oak Grove Cemetery, Hillsboro, IL.
Mr. Van Meter was born on July 19, 1922, the son of Edgar Smith and Anna Morse (Derleth) Van Meter in Greenville, IL. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Mr. Van Meter was a 1940 graduate of Greenville High School, attended Blackburn College for two years, earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Fisheries from the University of Washington, Seattle, then earned his Master’s Degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He and his wife, the former Bonnie Paden of Hillsboro, IL, were married in Seattle, WA on June 16, 1947. Bonnie preceded him in death on February 10, 2013. His career, as a fisheries biologist, was with the West Virginia Fisheries Commission from 1949 – 1957 then with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Lake Erie in Sandusky, Ohio for 19 years. He served on the Fisheries Staff of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Washington, D.C. until his retirement in 1982.
Following retirement, he was active in several civic organizations and in local NARFE chapters (federal retiree groups). He lived in Mountain Home, AR from 1982 until moving to Hillsboro, IL in June of 1990. He was a member of the United Methodist Church in Umatilla, FL. He is survived by two sons, David of Van Buren, AR and Brian and his wife, Sharon, of Heber City, UT; a sister, Elizabeth Ann Cox of Austin, TX and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded by two brothers, Bill Van Meter and Karl Van Meter.
Memorials may be given to a favorite charity.
