NEUMEYER, PERRY

by Ethel Neumeyer Arrants

Entry F312 from the History of Hooker County Nebraska
with permission of the Hooker County Historical Society

Perry Neumeyer Family 1937. Ethel, Wesley, Perry

Perry O. Neumeyer known to most of his
friends and family as P.O. was born Septem-
ber 24, 1903 to Jacob and Sarah (Duval)
Neumeyer at Bedford, Iowa. He came to the
sandhills at an early age with his parents,
sister Jessie and brothers Fred and Leon in
a wagon with four head of horses, with their
belongings to Survey Valley in Cherry county
where they homesteaded in 1914. At thirteen
years of age he started working on ranches,
which he continued until he went into the
army during World War Two.

Perry married Margaret Ila Shackelford in
February 1929. Two children were born to
this couple. Ethel 1930 and
Wesley 1933. Ila passed away in June
1933. Perry continued to keep his family
together with the help of Ila's parents J.W.
and Mary Shackelford. In 1935 he leased a
place south of Mullen from Folks which is
now the Eugene Lake place. Ethel and
Wesley both started to school west of the
place known as the Medearis school. Some of
Perry's neighbors were John and Jim Davis
families, Johnny Hampton, and the Medear-
ises.

When Perry returned from the service he
went into the restaurant business in Hyannis,
in 1945 he rented the Hi-Way Cafe in
Harrison until 1949. In the spring of 1949 he
purchased a lot from George Marshall and
moved a mobile Diner on to it known as the
Jewel Diner and opened up for business in
May 1949. In 1951 he added on to the
building. Perry continued to operate this
until he passed away in March of 1958.

Wesley went to Idaho and from there to
Canada. He has five children in Idaho. Ila
Diane, Wesley Jr., Holly Lynn, Jewel Marie,
and Perry O'Dell. He and his wife Shirley and
two children Windy and Jason live at Prince
George, Canada. He works as a welder on
heavy equipment in the logging industry.

Ethel married John Arrants and lives in
Kearney, Ne.