[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 132 (Tuesday, December 5, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2098]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E2098]]
                     IN MEMORY OF DR. GEORGE MEETZE

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JOE WILSON

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 5, 2006

  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in loving 
memory of Rev. Dr. George Elias Meetze. Dr. Meetze died Thanksgiving 
Day, November 23, 2006, after a brief illness. He was born June 24, 
1909, in Columbia South Carolina. He was the son of the late Narvie 
Elias and Fannie Belle Leitzsey Meetze. On June 30, 1936, he married 
Margaret Allen who predeceased him.
  Dr. Meetze was Columbia High School Valedictorian class of 1927. He 
was a graduate of the University of South Carolina, A.B., cum laude, 
1930; the N.Y. Theological Seminary, N.Y., S.T.M., 1933; the Lutheran 
Southern Seminary, Columbia, 1934; and received his Honorary D.D. 
Degree conferred at Newberry College Centennial Convocation, Nov. 28, 
1956.
  Dr. Meetze served as Pastor to St. Barnabas Lutheran Church, 
Charleston (was ordained there July 8, 1934), 1934-37 and Grace 
Lutheran Church, Prosperity, 1937-42; Retired Pastor Emeritus, Lutheran 
Church of the Incarnation, June 1942-1974. He was elected Chaplain of 
the S.C. Senate January 10, 1950, serving until his death. His 57 years 
of service established him as the longest serving Chaplain of a 
legislative body in the history of the world.
  Dr. Meetze's 97 years consisted of numerous activities, honors and 
services, included were serving on the boards of Social Missions 
Lutheran Synod of S.C., S.C. Synod Lutheran Church of America, Junior 
League Speech and Hearing, Salvation Army and S.C. Chapter of the 
American Cancer Society, where he was a past president. He enjoyed his 
memberships in Saint Paul's Lutheran Church, the Columbia Rotary Club, 
Heptagon Club, the Palmetto Forum, The Friday The Thirteenth Club, and 
the S.C. State Guard, where he was a Colonel and Chief Chaplain. He 
received the Service to Mankind Award by the Columbia Sertoma Clubs, 
the Paul Harris Fellow Rotary International award, the Order of the 
Palmetto, the Algernon Sidney Sullivan Award, and the 2000 U.S.C. 
Alumni Award. Dr. Meetze was the author of The Development of Dr. 
Martin Luther's Doctrine of the Lord's Supper. He was listed in Who's 
Who in the South & Southwest, S.C. Lives, Dictionary of Intl. Biography 
& Royal Blue Book.
  Surviving are his sons and daughters-in-law; George Allen and Suzanne 
Meetze of Marion and William Dagnall and Toby Meetze of Columbia; 
grandsons, Michael Allen Meetze and wife, Tracy, William Vickery 
Meetze, all of Marion, George Seabrook Meetze and wife, Alston, William 
Dagnall Meetze Jr. and wife, Sheri, all of Columbia. Also surviving are 
his beloved infant great-grandsons, Elias Shaw Meetze and twins, 
William Seabrook Meetze and Joseph Alston Meetze; and nephews, nieces, 
great-nephews and great-nieces. He was predeceased by sister, Thelma 
Meetze Frick.
  Dr. Meetze loved his God, his family, the South Carolina Senate, his 
state and his country. He enjoyed helping people and was always ready 
``to send up a prayer'' as he said ``for those who needed one.'' He 
will be greatly missed by his thousands of friends.

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