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Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Published: July 23, 2009

Anthony H. Meyer, retired investment banker, died peacefully at his home on Plantingfield Woods Lane in Edgartown on July 13. He was 78.

Tony was born in Montclair, N.J., on December 2, 1930. He graduated from The Webb School in Claremont, Calif., in 1947 and Princeton University in 1955, as a member of the Class of 1952 and the Charter Club.

He served in Korea with the Army Signal Corps, where he was a cryptographer. He spent several years in Austria and England and then returned to New York City. He first worked for many years with the Irving Trust Company, eventually serving as a vice president and specializing in the financing of the utility industry. He later joined Drexel Burnham Lambert, where his clients included the Philadelphia Electric Company and MCI Communications. In 1983, he assisted the billion dollar underwriting of securities in MCI, which was, at that time, the largest debt financing ever issued. Soon after, he took the measure of some increasingly unorthodox practices at the firm and retired to Edgartown. He went on to serve as a director of the Tweedy Browne Fund, Inc. from 1998 to 2004.

He was the son of Henry C. Meyer III and Marion Hopkins Meyer. Tony had long family ties to the Vineyard. His paternal grandmother, Louise Underhill Meyer, first came to Oak Bluffs in the 1870s. She and her husband, Henry C. Meyer Jr., summered for many years at The Tashmoo Inn and The Colonial Inn and later purchased The Valentine Pease home at 72 North Water Street in 1927, which is still owned by his cousin, Lorna Garron.

Tony spent his early summers at his grandparents' home. He learned to sail on their catboat, the Seminole, which was captained by Oscar Pease. Tony and his cousin, Landon Peters, raced their Rover, the Huron, winning the July and August series and Commodore's Cup in 1949 and many other prizes at the Edgartown Yacht Club. Later he purchased a Nonesuch, the Seminole, with Landon Peters and sailed that around Edgartown for many years. Tony was fond of cruising on chartered boats around the Windward and Leeward Islands in the Caribbean in the company of friends. He was a member of the Edgartown Yacht Club and the Edgartown Reading Room.

Tony's first summer house was on Clevelandtown Road, in Edgartown, on property he purchased with his close friend, David Erdman, where they built adjoining homes. He proudly named his place Dump Road Farm. He later built his home on Plantingfield Woods Lane around 1994.

Once a year-round resident, Tony became actively involved with the Martha's Vineyard Boys & Girls Club and served for more than 20 years as a director and was its treasurer. He was a tenacious fundraiser and a tireless promoter of the club. Many credit Tony for putting the club on a sound financial footing.

In his earlier years, Tony enjoyed skiing and tennis. He later became an avid golfer and a member of the Edgartown Golf Club, where he served as its treasurer and a director. He was also a member of the Pine Valley Golf Club, the Plantation Golf Club, the Mid Ocean Golf Club, the Farm Neck Golf Club, and the New York Athletic Club.

Tony was a wordsmith, fond of limericks, and well known as an expert storyteller, for his jokes, wit, and colorful expressions. He was "Uncle Tony" to his younger cousins and to numerous children of his friends. Tony was as generous and warmhearted as one could wish for in a friend, and he had many. This was reflected by their care and unrelenting aid over the last three months, both on the Cape and at his home, after he became ill. He was "staggered" by their love and concern that was shown to him. His family is deeply grateful to them.

Tony is survived by his brother, Henry C. Meyer IV of Vero Beach Fla.; the four sons of his deceased sister, Alison Meyer Eldridge: Andy Lamborn, of Pasadena, Calif., Matthew Lamborn, of Gardiner, N.Y., Peter Lamborn of Spring Hill, Fla., and Tony Lamborn of Pasadena, Calif.; his half-sister, Mary Meyer Urquhart, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and her children: Paul Weinberg, of Marina del Rey, Calif., and Laurie Constantinides, of Randolph, N.J.; Stephanie Meyer, of New York City, the daughter of his deceased half-sister, Sally Meyer; and his step-sister, Karel O. Mattison, of Edgartown.

His other cousins with ties to the Vineyard include Lorna Peters Garron and her children, Jennifer Garron and Douglas Garron; Eric L. Peters, John U. Peters, David L. Peters, Christopher L. Peters; and Hope Register and Fred Kingsbury.

A cocktail party in celebration of his life will be held on Friday, August 21, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm at the Harbor View Hotel in Edgartown. Contributions in his name may be made to the Martha's Vineyard Boys & Girls Club, P.O. Box 654, Edgartown, MA 02539.