It is with sadness that the German Society of Maryland notes the death of Gerhard Meinzer, an Emeritus Director of the Society, on February 17, 2025. Gerhard was the Honoree of the Society’s Anniversary Dinner in 2017. He served as director for many years, before being named a Lifetime Director. Unable to continue an active role in the life of the Society due to illness, he was name an Emeritus Director in 2024 to honor his many years of service.
Friends and associates of Gerhard are welcome to attend the graveside service on March 22, 2025, at 1:30 pm, at the Prospect Hill Cemetery. Prospect Hill Cemetery is Washington’s historic German-American cemetery, and is located at 2201 North Capitol St NE, Washington, DC.
Reprinted below is an obituary that was forward to us:
On the morning of Monday, February 17, 2025 Gerhard Meinzer passed away peacefully in an assisted living home in Olney, MD. He was preceded in death by his parents Karl Meinzer and Karoline Meinzer née Hartmann. He is survived by his sister Gerlinde Groß née Meinzer and her husband Dieter Groß, his niece MichaelaGroß and her husband Stephen Hawlitzki-Groß as well as a great niece and great nephew.
Gerhard was born in Karlsruhe-Knielingen, Germany on August 21, 1936, where he attended school. In 1959 he left Germany and went first to Canada and then to the United States where he lived in the Washington, DC area and worked as a mason. In his early years he enjoyed skiing and often went on long ski trips with groups of friends. He bought a house in Hyattsville, MD where he lived with his dog “Princess” and cultivated a much-admired flower garden in his front yard. He joined several German-American organizations, including the German-speaking Arminius Masonic Lodge, where he rose to be in the Scottish Rite of Free Masonry. He served as the president of the Arminius Social Club and the Association of German-American Societies of Greater Washington, DC, for which organization he planned and executed for many years a formal celebration of German-American Day at the German-American Friendship Garden on the National Mall. He was a mentor for Youth Leaders International. He sang with the Washington Saengerbund and was a member of the Concord Club, the German Society of Maryland, and the United Church/Concordia Kirche
Gerhard enjoyed traveling and visited Masonic Lodges in several foreign cities, including, London, Jerusalem, and Pisa; he also traveled widely within the United States and Canada. He was the kind of person whom you could count on, for he so frequently helped German-American groups with their events and festivals.
Gerhard received many accolades associated with his work in the German-American community. In 1995 he was awarded the prized Verdienstkreuz am Bande of the Federal Republic of Germany in an impressive ceremony at the German Embassy in Washington. In 2008 he was awarded the Ehrennadel of the Washington Saengerbund, and in 2014 the Friendship Award of the Federal Republic of Germany. He was named the 2017 German-American of the Year by the German Society of Maryland, for which organization he sponsored several students to study during summers in Germany.
Gerhard will be missed by his family and his many friends in the German-American community. He will be laid to rest at Prospect Hill Cemetery in Washington, DC.