Mary Fran Meer: 1922 – 2019
Kirkland, Washington
July 7, 1922 – July 6, 2019
Mary Fran Meer grew up in Illinois, attended Northwestern University, and worked in the Chicago area before moving to Washington. She was the first Northwest regional coordinator, in 1993 and 1994, when Haiku Northwest became a region of the Haiku Society of America. She helped establish our regional anthology tradition with the publication of Echoes Across the Cascades, which included poems from HSA members living in Washington and Oregon. Her collection of haiku, Wooing the Meadowlark, was published in 1997 (see PDF version). She lived in Kirkland, near her family.
Mary Frances (Larsen) King Meer
Mary Frances (Larsen) King Meer, age 96, passed away Saturday, July 6, 2019, in Bellevue, Washington, after a long illness. Mary Fran was born on July 7, 1922, in Miami, Arizona. She was preceded in death by her parents Dr. Reuben L. Larsen and Frances Sue (Bannister) Larsen, her two brothers Kimball Bannister Larsen and David Peter Bryant Larsen, and her husband Frank C. Meer.
Mary Fran is survived by her daughter Susann King Harris of Bellevue, Washington, son Jack (Barbara) King of Redmond, Washington; grandchildren Elise (Michael) Liptack of Monroe, Washington, Kimberlee (Stephen) Koplan of Duvall, Washington, Joseph King of Seattle, Washington, Michael Harris of Liberal, Kansas, Mark (Renata) Harris of Austin, Texas and ten great- grandchildren.
Although Mary Fran was an Illinois native, growing up in Evanston and Princeton, she also spent her teenage years in Houston, Texas. Her heart never left her beloved Princeton, where she loved riding her circus-trained Welsh pony, Trixi. She would often reminisce of living in Princeton and would say life there was some of her happiest childhood memories. After graduating high school in Houston, Texas, she went on to attend Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois where she was a member of Alpha Phi Sorority.
During World War II, while her father was serving in the U.S. Navy in California, Mary Fran met and married Joseph E. King Jr. who at the time was serving as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army/Air Corp. After the war ended, the couple moved back to their native roots of Chicago with their baby girl, Susann Bryant. During those years the family grew by the arrival of a son, John Kimball, where she was a not only a busy mom but a wife who supported her husband’s graduate studies as well as helping him to form his company, Industrial Psychology Inc. in Chicago.
Mary Fran worked in a variety of careers throughout her lifetime. She worked as a copywriter with Leo Burnett Advertising Company in Chicago during the ’50s. While working there on many well-known advertising campaigns, she was credited for the naming of Toni’s Permanent Wave for little girls called “The Tonette.”
In 1963, she moved with her two teenagers to the Pacific Northwest to be closer to family. She worked for SPEEA, the union for Boeing engineers. It was there where she met her husband Frank Meer. She was also a realtor, working for George Lister & Company at their Bellevue office. Her dream job, though, was when she created and became the owner/operator of a gift shop called Heirloom Haus on old Bellevue’s Main Street.
Many also knew her simply as Fran and a lady who was very creative, who loved working in her garden, had interests in art, writing, and playing bridge just to name a few. She was also a published haiku poet. She was active in many groups throughout her 56 years of living in Bellevue including the Bellevue Women’s Club, the Bellevue Botanical Gardens gift shop (as a volunteer), the Daughters of Norway, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Haiku Society of America, Haiku Northwest, the Washington Poets Association, and the National League of American Pen Women. She was an active member of Pilgrim Lutheran Church and an enthusiastic member of the church choir.
Fran loved spending time in her home and garden where she also loved all of God’s little creatures, especially her dogs, cats and the birds that visited her feeders.
Most of all she was proud of each member of her family and loved them with her whole heart. She was a wonderful loving mother, grandma and gran-gran who will be deeply missed. At her request, she was laid to rest in Princeton, Illinois.
A memorial service will be held at 2:00 pm on Sunday, August 25, 2019 at Pilgrim Lutheran Church, 10420 SE 11th Street (at Bellevue Way SE) in Bellevue, Washington. Please join us for a casual, light-hearted celebration of Mary Fran’s life, following the service.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that a donation be made to Pilgrim Lutheran Church in Mary Fran Meer’s name.
The preceding obituary appeared on the Barton Funeral Home website on August 14, 2019 (slightly edited here).
Memorial Service Haiku
The following poems were included in the memorial service program, selected by Sue Harris, Mary Fran’s daughter:
in a dream the wind
pushes the old tire swing
without me
daughter’s dream home . . .
from her deck she views
the lake’s changing moods
a spent leaf
spindles
on a spider’s loose thread
son’s fluting whistle
woos the meadowlark
ever closer
the barn kitten
fills a patch of sunlight
on the hayloft floor
on the back road
crushed clam shells dusting the blue
out of the bluebells
Selected Haiku by Mary Fran Meer
In chronological order, compiled by Connie Hutchison in January of 2019. In addition to these publications, Mary Fran Meer also published her haiku in Frogpond, Geppo, Haiku Headlines, Haiku Quarterly, Modern Haiku, Northwest Literary Forum, South by Southeast, and elsewhere, such as in the national Haiku Society of America membership anthologies.
From Brussels Sprout:
dusting
grandmother’s pride
ruby glass goblets
9:2, 1992, page 40
fireflies flashing codes
dusk to dark
9:3, 1992, page 5
the rising sun
the lake’s deep shadows
lifting
9:3, 1992, page 5
on the back road
crushed clamshells dusting the blue
out of the bluebells
12:1, 1995, page 42
streaking
through midnight stars
the meteor’s trail
12:1, 1995, page 42
lamp light
quilts crazy patterns
on fresh snow
12:3, 1995, page 32
From Chiyo’s Corner:
walking in the woods
the chickadees’ chatter
a welcome escort
1:1, Spring 1999, page 10
at twilight
the lark’s song
darkens
1:1, Spring 1999, page 14
autumn stroll
the puppy chills his nose
in his first rain puddle
1:2, Fall 1999, page 16
frost on the maples
leaf colors warming
to peaches and cream
1:3, Winter 1999–2000, page 10
the candle winks
behind the pumpkin’s grin
1:3, Winter 1999–2000, pages 24–25, in “Unruly and Diverse” renku
a fresh breeze
greets the newcomers
1:4, Spring 2000, pages 18–19, in “Sunbreak” renku (written February 29, 2000)
dripping branches
sun streams through showers
first Sunday in Advent
rugged nurse log
the vine leaves trailing red
a touch of autumn
ferns and sorrel
cascading
toward the pond
sailboats in view
from the park’s high terrace
2:2, Fall 2000, pages 22, 29, in “Keeping to the Trail” renku with Francine Porad
side by side
in the autumn sunset
kite and cloud
3:2, Fall 2001, page 13
From Other Publications:
school bell rings
my garden takes
a recess
“Haiku Northwest Greetings!” 1992, edited by Francine Porad and Connie Hutchison
frozen spring
meets its melting point
drip by drip
Echoes Across the Cascades, 1994 anthology of the Northwest region of the Haiku Society of America, page 3
(Mary Fran also wrote the book’s introduction)
clapper-less
wind chimes
a new resonance
Echoes Across the Cascades, 1994 anthology of the Northwest region of the Haiku Society of America, page 31
beads of rain
the fan opens . . . fills
fresh leaves of lady’s mantle*
“The Swinging Grasshopper,” 1995, edited by Robert Major
*a low-lying plant of accordion-folding leaves
summer breeze
otters laze on shallow rocks
in the slow-moving river
Sudden Shower, 1995 anthology of the Northwest region of the Haiku Society of America, page 20
the barn kitten
fills a patch of sunlight
on the hayloft floor
Sudden Shower, 1995 anthology of the Northwest region of the Haiku Society of America, page 22
spilling over
the weathered grave site
white forget-me-nots
Unbroken Curve, 1996 anthology, edited by Cherie Hunter Day and Ce Rosenow, page 17
a spent leaf
spindles
on the spider’s loose thread
Unbroken Curve, 1996 anthology, edited by Cherie Hunter Day and Ce Rosenow, page 18
From Sunlight Through Rain: A Northwest Haiku Year:
Edited by Robert Major and Francine Porad, 1997
Spring:
early spring
rain mixed with snow
splotches the mare’s shaggy coat
wisteria wreathes
the red cedar snag
the thrush’s crumbled nest
Summer:
as the river coils
through the deep canyon
a sidewinder suns
Pacific coast storm
a beachcomber’s bucket fills
with tumbled agates
Autumn:
ripening harvest
apple crates stacked
along the valley road
Winter:
white against white
the crocus breaks through
the winter crust
From Other Publications:
a piebald pony
drowses in the orchard grass
half-munched apples
Cherry Blossom Rain, 1997 anthology, edited by Mary Fran Meer, page 23
the first frost crystallizes the last rosebud
Cherry Blossom Rain, 1997 anthology, edited by Mary Fran Meer, page 24
mountain cabin
a deepening glow
in the cabin’s hearth
To Find the Words, 2000 anthology, page 26
faint strains
float over the teahouse
silken koto strings
On Crimson Wings: Centennial Anthology of the Japanese Consulate of Seattle, Laughing CyPress, 2001, page 12
three flat boulders
span the dry stream bed
. . . the urge to go barefoot!
“Ginkō: Northwest Poets at the Bellevue Botanical Garden, April 21, 2002” trifold
edited and illustrated by Ruth Yarrow
autumn chill
curled leaves cradle
the first snowfall
Box Anthology, 2002, compiled by Francine Porad and Marilyn Sandall
falling leaves
crisp and curling
catch the first snowflakes
Wind Shows Itself, 2004 Haiku Northwest anthology, page 28
a spent leaf
spindles
on a spider’s loose thread
son’s fluting whistle
woos the meadowlark
ever closer
on the back road
crushed clamshells dusting the blue
out of the bluebells
No Longer Strangers: Haiku Northwest 25th Anniversary Anthology, 2014, page 52
Mary Fran Meer produced the following publications:
Echoes Across the Cascades, 1994, editorial committee chair
Cherry Blossom Rain, 1997, editor
Wooing the Meadowlark, Bellevue, Washington: Miraclear Press, 1997 (her only book)
Wind Shows Itself, 2004, editorial staff
summer
flies by
in a flock of geese