Roland Meyer, early Rolling Meadows mayor, dies

Roland Meyer, Rolling Meadows’ longest-serving mayor, died earlier this spring, Mayor Tom Rooney announced at a recent city council meeting.

While Meyer’s death occurred early in April, Rooney did not learn about it until the city’s Memorial Day ceremony.

The 81-year-old Meyer, who served as mayor from 1967 to 1979, left directions that, “Nothing be made of his death. He did not want a service or recognition,” said Rooney.

The usually nostalgic Rooney said he would respect Meyer’s wishes and not make a “fuss,” but he thought the city’s residents should know.

“When you talk to people about the history of Rolling Meadows, Meyer is very significant, even more so than Bill Ahrens (mayor from 1979 to 1990),” said Rooney.

Meyer became mayor just over a decade after the city’s 1955 incorporation. Rolling Meadows established its own garbage pick up in the 1960s while other towns were contracting out the service. That remains a source of pride to city residents, who voted recently against privatization.

Meyer’s era also encompassed the days when Picasso’s nude statue,“The Bather” stood 28 feet tall along Golf Road at what was then Gould headquarters.