Waite Hill man set to be honored
Michael C. Butz
MButz@News-Herald.com

01/14/2008

Robert Meil is Willoughby Rotary's Citizen of the Year





For the 55 years Robert Meil has lived in Waite Hill, neighbors like Raymond and Randee Herbst have come to appreciate and rely on his generosity and perpetual willingness to help out.
A few weeks ago, Robert said, Randee asked if he and his wife, Sue, could drive her husband to the Cleveland Clinic for a doctor's appointment because she was unable to.
The Meils didn't hesitate to drive him, and in the coming weeks, when Randee will have to go to the hospital herself for a surgery, Robert said they will drive her again.
As it's been for their entire 31-year friendship, Raymond is thankful for Robert's help.
"Good friends are hard to find, and I consider him a very good friend," Raymond said. "I'm privileged to know him."
Robert, on the other hand, doesn't think his longtime tennis buddy should make a big fuss about it.
"I don't really want to take credit for it because it's something anybody would do," the 84-year-old said. "If your neighbor asked you to take her husband down to the Cleveland Clinic, you'd ask, 'What time?' "
Robert will be recognized for that kind of selflessness Feb. 4 when the Willoughby Rotary Club presents him with its Distinguished Citizen award.
The award honors those who go above and beyond in performing good deeds, making better their communities and those whose lives they touch, according to the club.
In addition to stories like the Herbsts', Robert has a long history of volunteering, such as being a math and reading tutor at Edison Elementary School in Willoughby, working for the United Way, being a guest lecturer on data processing at Lakeland Community College, and serving as a greeter at LakeWest Hospital and as an usher at Playhouse Square in Cleveland.
Most people who know Robert, however, know him for the helping hand he's always willing to lend. Alice Hannon-Taylor, a friend of Robert's for 35 years, said she and her family have witnessed many of his unsung deeds of kindness.
Robert was there to help her husband, Don Hannon, when he was suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease, she said.
Robert always kept longtime tennis buddy Don in the circle of tennis friends, even when Don's ALS prevented him from participating on the court, Alice said.
"He was always one to be there when a neighbor needed him, and there's not too many people like that around anymore," she said. "He's really the consummate neighbor."
Robert and Sue were being the "consummate neighbors" back in 1977, when one day Robert said he was walking home and saw billowing smoke at the end of his street.
The third floor of the house belonging to Bruce Huston, who lived about a mile away, was on fire.
The Meils hurried to the house and helped Huston and his wife, B.J., carry out clothes, furniture and anything else that could be rescued, Robert said.
In the weeks following the fire, The Meils took food to the Hustons and helped them get their house back in order, he said.
A couple of months later, the Hustons gave Robert and Sue a plaque that acknowledged they were the only ones in Waite Hill to come help them through the fire.
"We're kind of proud of that plaque," Robert said.
And while many others would line up to thank Robert for all the things he's done and the extra miles he's gone for them over the years, he'll turn that around and tell you there's one person he'd like to thank.
"My wife," he said, adding they've been married for 42 years. "If it weren't for her, I wouldn't be here. I'd have been wandering in the wilderness. She's made my life."
Lunch will be served at 11:30 a.m. Feb. 4 at Pine Ridge Country Club, 30601 Ridge Road, Wickliffe, with the program scheduled to begin at noon. Tickets cost $15, and the event is open to the public. Payment will be accepted at the door, but payment in advance is preferred. To make reservations, or for more information, call Andrea at (440) 946-2040.