Stanley F. Meyer, 88, retired president of Wendt Advertising and a former Great Falls City Commissioner and past Chair of the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission, died of complications of Parkinson’s Disease on May 9, 2024.
Stan was born June 21, 1935, on the family farm near McGregor, Iowa, the second son of Delia Bertha (Brandt) and Irvin Frederick Meyer. Stan’s formal education began at the same one-room country school that his dad and uncles had attended, and he graduated from Monona Iowa High School in 1952. He went on to Iowa State College (now University) majoring in Agricultural Journalism, graduating in 1956. He was a member of the Theta Xi social fraternity.
Upon graduating from college, Stan married Roberta Jane Hammerly in Ames, Iowa, on July 21, 1956. They moved to Brookings, SD, where he had accepted a job as radio-television information specialist for South Dakota State College (now University). After a year in that job, Stan left for Great Falls, MT, to be a Farm Broadcaster for KFBB Radio (AM 1310) and its new sister television station.
From KFBB, Stan moved on to become Director of Advertising for Montana Flour Mills (which was later sold to ConAgra), and this experience gave him the understanding and grounding he needed to move on to an account executive position at Wendt Advertising in 1964. He became a shareholder in 1968 and, in 1979, president of the agency, retiring in 1993. His 29 years at Wendt were golden years for the advertising industry nationwide as well as for Wendt.
Shortly before Stan’s scheduled retirement from Wendt in 1993, Governor Marc Racicot appointed him Member and Chair of the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission. He served two terms, from 1993 to 2001. Stan’s major focus on the Commission was to preserve habitat, protecting it against subdivision and commercial activities that are not compatible with wildlife. He was a proponent of conservation easements -- agreements that keep landowners on the land where they continue profitable agricultural practice while also protecting wildlife habitat.
Stan’s interest in hunting, fishing and conservation never waned. In retirement he sprayed weeds and hunted at the Golden Eagle Ranch on the Yellowstone River which he co-owned with Chuck Raches of Bozeman. When a friend organized the Sun River Working Group, focusing on the wildlife and habitat that supports it, Stan volunteered to be coordinator, maintaining an email list of 70 participants, preparing program agendas, and more.
He is survived by his two daughters, Sara Meyer of Minneapolis, MN, and Carol Meyer, of New York, NY, as well as Carol’s husband, Lloyd Westerman, and daughters, Julia Westerman and Alice Westerman.
To read the complete obituary and share condolences, click here to visit the Croxford Funeral Home website.
