Biography
Remembering Leo Meissner
(Leo John Meissner, 1895 - 1977)
| Leo John Meissner was born in Detroit, Michigan on June 28, 1895. His father and mother, Franz and Maria, had two other sons, John Charles Meissner and Frank Meissner. He had been a Drummer and an Ambulance Driver for the American Friends Field Service during W.W. I. Leo died near his winter place in Cape Elizabeth, Maine in June of 1977, just after renewing his driver's license. He was driving home and, evidently, felt the heart attack coming on. He pulled over to the side of the road, turned off the ignition and died clutching the steering wheel. |
"Uncle Leo"
was in WWI and was a drummer. When I was in WWII, I was transferred to Manhattan
Beach for cooks and baker school. This gave me the opportunity to visit Uncle Leo
and Aunt Mildred as they lived in Yonkers, New York at the time.
I don't know when Aunt Mildred died but some years later he met Bunny (Berniece) and married her. For some years he was art editor for Motor Boating Magazine. He did beautiful wood engraving. He liked to use end grain boxwood and where possible, he took advantage of the grain and worked it into his engravings. We have a number of his works and really appreciate them.
They (Leo and
Bunny) had a home on the mainland in Cape Elizabeth, for the winter and a place on
Monhegan Island for the summer. The island was an artist's island and the homeowners
governed it so they could keep it that way. The engravings he did were very fine
work. As he had them near completion, he would make test prints to be sure he had
the composition he wanted. Then he would make limited prints. When this was
accomplished he would destroy the block by carving grooves in the face of the block.
Contributed by John Charles Meissner, Jr.
Photo Gallery |
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