Frederick J. Meamber, Jr.
1913-2006

Frederick Joseph Meamber, Jr., was born in Yreka in 1913, son of Myrtle and Fred Meamber, Sr. He was the grandson of Augustus Meamber, a Siskiyou County pioneer in 1851. Augustus ran a large pack train, delivering supplies to miners, and had a ranch in Quartz Valley.

Fred attended local schools, graduating from Yreka High School in 1932. He attended Sacramento Junior College, then returned to Yreka to work with his father in the beverage business. He married his high school sweetheart, Rae Bernice Soulé of Little Shasta and Yreka on February 18, 1940. For a year they lived in Mt. Shasta where he managed the Mt. Shasta Bottling Plant.

Soon after returning to Yreka in December 1942, he was inducted into the Army. While stationed stateside, at Camp Howze in Texas and Camp Claibourne in Louisiana, he played his trumpet in the band. Bernice joined him and they drove to New Orleans on a three-day leave to visit with some of her Soulé relatives that she had never met. They also visited Soulé College which had been founded in 1856 by Bernice’s great-uncle, Colonel George Soulé.

Later, Fred’s 84th Infantry Division joined the European theater, and he saw action in the Battle of the Bulge. While in Europe, he was a mail orderly, with one of his recipients being Henry Kissinger. His outfit was on the northern arm of the Bulge in Marche, Barvaux, Maastricht and Aachen, Belgium. He was quite near where his great-grandfather, Joseph Moegenbirn, was born.

Fred exchanged Christmas cards with one of his WWII hosts he had known in a very small village named Handgraaf in Holland, as well as with two people in Belgium, for the rest of his life.

Before he was sent home, he was sent to Paris to help bottle Coca-Cola for the victorious troops, because of his prior experience at the Mt. Shasta Bottling Plant. He served in the Army until January 1946.

After returning home from World War II, he and his brother, Jack, became partners with their father in the Coca-Cola Bottling Plant. He worked there until his retirement and sale of the business in 1971.

The Siskiyou County Historical Society organized in 1945. Fred served two terms as its president and worked in other capacities, including co-editor of the annual publication, The Siskiyou Pioneer.

The Siskiyou County Museum was dedicated August 24, 1951. Tired of the delays and procrastinations, Fred got a pickup, took the waiting artifacts to the museum and put them on the floor. The museum has been open ever since.

One of Fred’s many interests in the field of local history was the presentation of narrated slide programs on county history for service clubs, schools, churches and historical organizations throughout Northern California. He spent many years researching local newspapers, deeds, etc., dating from 1861 to 1910 and later. This research provided information for all of the historic signs placed on the old homes in Yreka and for their book.

In 1953 Fred and Bernice were charter members of the Symposium Group of Historical Societies of Northern California and Southern Oregon. They were charter members of the Conference of California Historical Societies, organized in 1954. Fred was active with other historians in CCHS and received its annual award as well as the Coke Wood Award.

In 1971 Fred and Bernice helped organize the Yreka Historic Preservation Corporation and worked on the creation of the town’s Historic District and getting it listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Fred and Bernice wrote a book on the old homes in Yreka, Houses That Talk, in 1986. Bernice is working on volume two now. It seems that we old historians are going to be doing history with our last breath. This book relates the stories of the historic homes on Third Street. Fred was the researcher and Bernice was the writer, organizer and recorder.

Fred was involved with a number of civic organizations including the 20/30 Club, the Rotary Club, the Siskiyou County Genealogical Society and the Friends of the Library. He served on the Yreka Elementary School Board and the PTA.

Fred was recognized for his service to the community in 1974 when he received the Yreka Citizen of the Year award from the Yreka Chamber of Commerce.

Besides history, Fred was interested in hunting, fishing, gardening and classical music. He began playing trumpet in school bands and later performed with Pete Peterson’s Dance Band for many years. He also sang in the Mt. Zion Lutheran Church Choir for over 40 years.

Fred was predeceased by his brothers, Jack and Don, and by his grandson, Barrett Romaine. He is survived by his wife, Bernice; his sister, Mildred Reichman; his children, Donna Romaine, Melinda Boring and Stephen Meamber; four grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.

A memorial service was held for Fred at the Mt. Zion Lutheran Church, Yreka, where he had been a member for 50 years. He is much missed by his family, his friends and the historical community.