Local Legends: Words & Flames

Although a City of Hamilton fire officer, Stanley Joseph “Stan” Meyer will forever be linked to Oxford.

Meyer was born in Hamilton on May 28, 1918, the son of Joseph George Meyer and Freda (Mark) Meyer. He grew up on Walnut Street in a strongly German section of the city’s second ward, attending St. Joseph Catholic Church and School.

From an early age Meyer was interested in music and sang soprano in his church choir.  His other interest, which would become one his greatest passions, was writing.  Outside of writing for school he also served as the troop scribe for St. Joe’s Boy Scout unit and joined the Boy Scouts Press Club.  

These interests followed him to Hamilton Catholic High School where Meyer played baritone in the school band and, partnering with classmate Frank Wessel, composed a new march for the school. Having won a competitive composition contest his senior year, Meyer earned the honor of giving the valedictory speech for the class of 1937’s commencement.

Inspired to pursue writing as a career, upon his graduation Meyer got a job as a clerk with the Wargo News Agency. He simultaneously began taking night classes at Xavier University for journalism, though he doesn’t appear to have finished the academic program.  

The first of many harrowing experiences in Meyer’s life came while employed at the news agency. On Oct. 6, 1937, revolver-toting robbers entered the news agency to find Meyer there alone. They ordered him to a back room where they tied him up and left him before fleeing with only $35 and a pack of cigarettes.  

He wiggled loose and immediately called the police, though the bandits were gone by the time they arrived. When the suspects were arrested on a murder charge, after shooting a store clerk during another hold up, in Troy two weeks later, Meyer was asked to go identify them.

Around the same time Meyer became involved with St. Joe’s Gaudeamus Club, a music and acting club. This is possibly how he met his future wife, Catherine "Eileen" (Remle) Meyer, who was also a member of the club at the time. Meyer served as the organization’s editor-in-chief for three years and also briefly served in the same position with the Catholic Youth Organization.

Appointed to the Hamilton Fire Department on Oct. 1, 1939, Meyer was assigned as a fireman to Engine Company No. 1 on the city’s West Side. He registered for the draft but did not serve in World War II, likely due to his essential career.

The Meyers were married on July 30, 1941 at St. Ann Catholic Church and moved to Lindenwald. There they raised three children, Patty (Meyer) Benson, Stanley Meyer, Jr. and Joseph Meyer.

Meyer loved firefighting and involved himself in many of the activities of the department and the union, including serving as a co-chair of a firefighters committee to raise funds for the Infantile Paralysis Foundation.  

In 1946, Meyer served as a pallbearer for Fireman George J. Kramer who died in the line of duty from a heart attack. He would repeat the somber task for retired captain Robert Stoeckel following his death in 1959.

Demonstrating a consistently strong aptitude for his profession, Meyer never ranked lower than second on any of the promotion tests that he took throughout his career. His first promotion, on March 1, 1948, made him a lieutenant at Company No. 7 on Shuler Avenue. Passing another test, he became captain of Lindenwald’s Company No. 6 four years later. 

While not all of his runs are well documented by local newspapers, over the course of his nearly 32 year career, Meyer became an expert firefighter. Working in a time before modern turnout gear, Meyer was injured in fires at least twice, receiving burns to his ankles in 1952 and to his hands and back in 1964.

Meyer never gave up on writing, and in his off days occasionally worked as a freelance writer, with some of his pieces being published in the Saturday Evening Post, Reader’s Digest, Catholic Telegraph. He also continued being involved with his church and community as a member of the Holy Name and St. Vincent De Paul Societies and as a board member for Lindenwald Little League.

He and Eileen were also owners or part-owners of a couple businesses including Roto-Kleen Service and Master Tax and Accounting Service, started in 1961 and 1968, respectively.

In 1962, Meyer transferred to be the captain of Engine Company No. 2 at headquarters and was promoted to deputy chief in charge of the A Shift on March 13, 1965. By 1968 he was the department’s drillmaster and training officer, a perfect position for him that gave him the opportunity to train new firefighters and speak to community and professional groups. In this position, he also engaged his writing skills and adopted a pet project of writing a department training manual.

On Aug. 9, 1971, a small fire began in the Masonic Lodge in Oxford that eventually ignited chemicals used by a shoe repair shop in the building and caused an explosion. As the building became fully involved, Oxford firefighters struggled to keep it at bay and called for mutual aid assistance from several local departments.

Hamilton answered the call by dispatching a crew of five firefighters, led by Meyer, to Oxford.  About three and a half hours into the operation, Meyer saw the brick front facade of the century old structure beginning to fail. Without hesitation, he rushed from the street to the front of the building and began emergently warning firefighters to evacuate.

Cameras at the scene captured Meyer’s heroism in the split seconds before the structural collapse that claimed his life. The three other firefighters, brothers Louis and Larry Murphy of Oxford Fire Department and Jack Baker of Hamilton Fire Department who were also caught in the collapse zone all survived, though Baker was severely injured.

Eventually six fire departments and two law enforcement agencies responded to the scene.  The inferno that threatened a large portion of Uptown Oxford was finally brought under control after ten hours of firefighting and the total destruction of the Masonic Lodge.  

Having given his life in the attempt to save his fellow firefighters, Meyer was laid to rest in St. Mary Cemetery following a service at St. Ann. Hamilton City Council passed a resolution describing that Meyer, “was regarded as an outstanding professional firefighter and was highly regarded for his ability and comprehensive knowledge of in all phase(s) of firefighting.” In a note published in the newspaper, Eileen added, “Please do not grieve for the passing of Stan, he died doing what he liked doing best; serving others.”

In the aftermath of the incident, a fund was started to support Meyer’s family and the other victims of the tragedy with several Oxford individuals and businesses making donations.  Miami’s fraternities and sororities banded together to hold a “Greek Week” and donated the proceeds to this fund and Miami President Phillip Shriver offered a full scholarship to Meyer’s son Joseph. Hamilton Firefighters IAFF Local 20 spearheaded the fundraising campaign in Hamilton.  

Eileen responded to the kindness with another note in the paper, “no amount of sympathy can return Stanley Meyer to his family and friends, but it is comforting to know that we live in a community of people who care.” Eileen passed away nineteen years later on Nov. 27, 1990.

Although paralyzed as a result of his injuries, Jack Baker went on to serve on Hamilton City Council.

As recounted in the book “Haunted Butler County” by Dan Schneider, over the years, firefighters working at the former Company No. 7 and in the Mueller Building where headquarters used to be located reported many strange incidents occurring that they attributed to Meyer’s ghost.  Employees of Municipal Brew Works, which now occupies the former Company No. 2 area of the Mueller Building have also continued to recount unusual incidents.

Meyer is remembered on the Butler County Fallen Firefighter and EMS Provider Memorial in Hamilton and on the Miami Valley Firefighter/EMS Memorial in Centerville.

Brad Spurlock is the manager of the Smith Library of Regional History and Cummins Local History Room, Lane Libraries. A certified archivist, Brad has over a decade of experience working with local history, maintaining archival collections and collaborating on community history projects. He also serves as a board member for Historic Hamilton Inc. and the Butler County Historical Society.