It’s easy to say the University of Denver was an important part of Rosie Meyer’s life.
Meyer, who died Oct. 30, 2009, at age 82, earned a psychology degree from DU in 1949. She met her husband, Dick (BA ’51), at DU, her brothers also were alumni and her granddaughter currently is studying for a master’s degree at the University. Meyer’s father, Elwood Murray, was a professor in DU’s speech communication department and was “legendary” in the speech communication field.
Like many other DU professors at the time, Murray lived in the Observatory Park area, so Rosie practically grew up on the DU campus, says Scott Lumpkin, associate vice chancellor in University Advancement.
Meyer’s dedication to the University was unquestionable, Lumpkin says, and it carried on for her entire life.
In 2004, when DU was raising money for its new hotel, restaurant and tourism management building, Rosie pledged $1.5 million to the project.
The kitchen in the school—the “hub” of the building—was named the Richard and Rosalind Meyer Family Kitchen.
“Dick and Rosie wanted the kitchen named for their family, not just the two of them,” Lumpkin says. “They viewed their philanthropy as an extension of the entire family.”
The kitchen was important to the Meyers, in part, because it honored Dick’s achievements in the food service industry. He chaired a food service management company that had contracts with universities in 39 states. Dick Meyer died in 2002.
“She was so proud to see the contribution … and especially to see the impact the Meyer Kitchen was having on our ability to educate our students in a professional facility,” says David Corsun, director of the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management.
“These were people whose values and ideals fit with the University,” Lumpkin says. “They are the kind of people students should have as examples. Dick and Rosie were exactly that—they were generous, moral people who were extremely dedicated to their family and their university.”
Meyer also was instrumental in creating two endowed funds in the Department of Human Communication Studies to honor her parents, Elwood and Emma Murray. The funds were established in 1991 and 2001, respectively.