Renee A. Meyers

Renee A. Meyers passed away peacefully on Friday, March 16th. Despite leading a very healthy lifestyle, Renee was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of lung cancer in January. Renee fought valiantly against this insidious disease and had excellent medical care. However, even with the love and support from her family and many friends, Renee could not overcome this cancer’s unfair advantage. Renee’s husband, Dennis Garrett, and their two daughters, Libby and Molly, were with her during the entire time that she fought this disease. The Meyers-Garrett family enjoyed living in Cedarburg since 1991, educating their daughters in the excellent Cedarburg public schools and enjoying the many artistic and cultural opportunities in the community. Renee was a professor in the Communication Department at UW-Milwaukee for over 20 years. During that time she served as chairperson of the department and was a mentor to many graduate students who went on to have successful academic and professional careers in many countries around the world. While she would never mention it herself, her family would like to note that Renee received many awards for her teaching excellence and research productivity during her illustrious career. Renee was born on March 4, 1954, in the small farming community of Morgan, MN. In addition to her husband and two daughters, Renee is survived by her mother (Marguerite Meyers) and eight brothers and sisters. Her father (Wayne Meyers) passed away when Renee was still in high school. His death had a profound impact on Renee and led her to assume tremendous responsibility at a young age. Her family takes great comfort in knowing that Renee and her father will now be reunited to catch up on all of their lost years. Renee’s family would like to thank Dr. Goniu and Dr. Burfeind for their exceptional care for Renee during her illness. And the family would especially like to express their sincere appreciation to the amazing nursing staff on the North 3 wing at Columbia St. Mary’s Ozaukee hospital. Their care and support were very important during this difficult journey. We hope you can join us on Saturday, April 21st for a service to celebrate Renee's life. This service will be held in the Helene Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Campus. The Zelazo Center is located at 2400 E. Kenwood Blvd. in Milwaukee, WI. We will have visitation from 1:00pm to 4:00pm., followed by a service at 4:00pm. We would like to share fond memories of Renee. Here is the link to the Zelazo Center: http://www4.uwm.edu/psoa/venues/buildings/zelazo.cfm. Please contact me if you have any questions dgarrett5@wi.rr.com. Also, our home address is W72N815 Harrison Avenue Cedarburg, Wi 53012 Libby, Molly and I would like to thank you all for the wonderful support you have provided for us. We hope to visit with you and thank you in person on April 21st. Online donations may be made at: http://www4.uwm.edu/give_to_uwm/makegift/ Follow the links, and for 'Gift Designation' choose 'Letters and Sciences' and for 'Additional Designation Instructions enter 'In Memory of Renee Meyers' Checks: make out to the UWM Foundation, 'In Memory of Renee Meyers,' and sent directly to Christina Makal Uwm Office of Developement & Alumni Relations Director of Development - College of Letters & Science Holton Hall Room 253 P.O. Box 413 Milwaukee, WI 53201-0413.Please check Renee’s site at www.caringbridge.org (reneemeyers).