Elizabeth "Libby" Anne Meillier

Our beloved wife, mother, sister, grandmother and treasured friend, Elizabeth Anne (Isham) Meillier, 73, of Eagan, Minnesota, passed on to the next world peacefully on October 17th, 2020 at Fairview Hospital.

Elizabeth (Libby) was born May 7, 1947 in Crossett,  Arkansas  to Dr. Robert and Geraldine Isham. Her father Bob was a family physician and her mother Gere a passionate humanitarian.

Libby grew up in Osage, Iowa. She attended the University of Iowa, and graduated from Mankato State University with a BS degree.  She married Steven James Meillier on June 26, 1971, and they raised their two sons, Alexander Mason and Bennett James, in Apple Valley and Eagan, Minnesota.

In addition to her two sons, Libby is survived by her sister Mary Ekeland and husband Craig Ekeland of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, sister Judy Bowen of Des Moines, Iowa, her daughter in-law Tanya Meillier, Granddaughters Layla and Margaux, and nieces Amy and Jane.

Libby was an evangelist for peace and love. And she was committed to political activism throughout her life. In the 1960’s Libby was a part of SDS, Students for a Democratic Society, a non-violent, pro-civil rights organization dedicated to expanding participatory democracy. In the wake of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Libby protested against the Vietnam war outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention and found herself in the midst of a violent backlash. Undeterred she went on to march that summer  in New York City and Washington D.C.. After several students were shot and killed during a non-violent protest at Kent State in Ohio, Libby left SDS when the group split with some members advocating violence against the state. Libby went on to work on several democratic campaigns. In the 1980’s she joined  the sisterhood of the Philanthropic Educational Organization (PEO) dedicated to the advancement of women. When it was time to caucus in Minnesota, Libby was always there to provide encouragement and instruction to first time caucus goers, particularly young people who gravitated to her youthful energy. Even in the dark recent years of the Trump administration she held onto her belief that, in the words of Dr. King, “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” And she taught her boys that love would always triumph over hate.

Anyone who knew Libby was uplifted by her whimsical spirit and creative genius. She was truly one-of-a-kind with class, flair and fun spilling over into all she did and onto all she met.   A talented artist and writer herself, Libby valued the intrigue and craft of literary and artistic genres.

She was a voracious reader all her life. Everyone at the public library knew her by name and they couldn’t get new books on the shelves fast enough to keep up with her appetite for poetry, prose and literature. She appreciated stimulating conversations with her friends and family and could discuss politics, history and culture for hours.

There was always music in her house. In the 1960’s she was a friend of John Denver and his first wife Annie (John called her “Sunshine” which was her nickname back then) and she remembered seeing the young Bob Dylan playing in a coffee shop in Dinkytown at the University of Minnesota before he left for New York and worldwide fame. The Grateful Dead, Joanie Mitchell, Carole King, Paul Simon, James Taylor, Willie Nelson, Tony Bennett, Randy Newman, The Beatles and especially the music of John Lennon  were among her favorites.  She believed in magic and if you loved her, you know it’s real too.

In her home she built with Steve their door was never locked. In their nearly 50 years of marriage, they provided shelter and love to countless friends and strangers as well for their beloved dogs: Margaret Sanger (aka Shaggy Maggy), Arthur Conan Doyle, Maggie Grace, Roxanne Roberta Bell (aka Roxie,  who lived with them for 19 years),  and Josie Ophelia. In their colorfully decorated house that changed with the seasons, Libby displayed the house rules on signs strategically placed throughout such as: “I Got You Babe”, “It’s never too late to live happily ever after”, “Smile, somebody loves you”, “my dog is a democrat”, “only dull people are brilliant at breakfast”, “imagination is everything”, “laugh”, and simply “love, always”.

And it’s in that spirit that, while we mourn her loss, we celebrate her life with us and are uplifted by the memory of her light of love which burned so very, very bright.

The family asks if you wish to make a tribute to Libby you consider making a donation to LifeScape Foundation https://www.lifescapesd.org