Wesley Russell Meacham II, 83, of Wilton died Thursday, June 27, 2013, at his farm home.
He was born April 11, 1930, to Hollis and Luella (Stark) Meacham in Minneapolis, Minn. He proudly served his country as a member of the U.S. Army in South Korea in 1950. On Aug. 12, 1950, Wesley was united in marriage to Margaret Ferries at the Methodist church in Wilton.
He worked as a watch engineer at the Black Hawk Generating Station in Beloit. In 1955, they moved to Wilton, where he hauled milk (in cans) and worked for his Dad at the lumberyard. He ran the Standard Oil Filling Station in Wilton for two years. He then went to work for W.R. Arthur Company in Janesville, hauling cars from the Chevrolet plant. When he started, they had four cars on a load, and when he retired 30 years later, they were transporting 11. The Arthur Company was sold to JATCO. In 1959, he worked out of Independence, Iowa, hauling to both coasts and Canada. The family moved back to Janesville in 1964, when the Iowa terminal closed. In 1966, they moved to a farm near Wilton, where he and his family planted an apple orchard and raised beef cattle. He still hauled cars from the Janesville terminal and worked on the farm on weekends. Meacham’s Orchard was discontinued in 2007.
For 62 years, Wesley was a member of the Masonic Lodge and a member of Faith Congregational Church, Wilton. He served as Wilton Township Chairman for 10 years.
He had Parkinson’s disease for more than 12 years and was a five-year survivor of prostate cancer.
He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Margaret; his children, Wesley “Skip” R. Meacham III of Madison, Elizabeth (Jim) Kauble, of Portland, Ore., David (Gail) Meacham of Wilton and Karen (Ed) Kazarick of Phoenix; seven grandchildren; three great-granddaughters; three sisters, Nancy (Patrick) Welch of Janesville and Betty Zirk and Lorrie (Larry) Bever, both of Wilton; a sister-in-law, Bernice Ferries of Nekoosa, Wis.; three brothers-in-law, John (Audrey) Ferries and Jay (Isabell) Ferries, both of Sheridan, Wyo., and Dr. Jeremy Ferries of Corvallis, Ore.; and nieces, nephews, many other relatives and friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents; a brother, Lt. Hollis “Jim” V. Meacham Jr.; two brothers-in-law, Ed Zirk Jr. and James Ferries; a sister-in-law, Phyllis Ferries; and his mother-in-law and father-in-law, Beulah and Vern Ferries.
The Ferries family would like to extended a special thank you to the staff of Tomah Memorial Hospital Palliative Care Program and Michele Masters APNP
Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday, July 3, at Faith Congregational Church, Wilton. Pastor Ben Janzen will officiate. Burial will be in Hillside Cemetery, Wilton, with military honors by Hanson-Stark-Leith-Paeth American Legion Post 508. Relatives and friends are invited to call on Tuesday at the Smith-Nelson Funeral Home, 702 Center St., Wilton, from 4–8 p.m. and on Wednesday at the church from 10 a.m. until the time of the service. Online condolences may be given at www.sonnenburgfamilyfh.com.
