Warren Jackson Meyers

Warren “Renny” Jackson Meyers, Jr., died on May 19, 2025 in Aurora, Colorado, age sixty-five, grateful to God for a lifetime full of love and laughter. His ashes will be interred alongside those of his parents and sister at 4:00 p.m. on Labor Day, Monday, September 1, 2025, at the Winnetka Congregational Church, 725 Pine Street, Winnetka, Illinois.

Renny was born on August 21, 1959, in Evanston, Illinois, to Warren Jackson Meyers and Cynthia Houston Meyers. An older sister, Cynthia Clarke Meyers, died in 1971, leaving a wound that never quite healed. No immediate family survived him, but he loved Kris Royal like a son and considered Kris’s wife, Suzanna, his daughter-in-law and Saylor and Grey Royal his grandchildren. He had a special affection for his late uncle, Philip G. Meyers, Renny’s guardian angel.

Renny attended Winnetka Public Schools and New Trier East High School. He inherited superb athletic skills and excelled in hockey and golf. He played golf for New England College in Henniker, New Hampshire, and won the Winnetka Golf Club doubles championship several times with his mother. He was a skilled and wily defenseman for the New Trier East Hockey Club, with big hands (hence the nickname “Mitts”) and a big slapshot (and broken sticks). Renny found joy in coaching youth hockey with lifelong friend Richard “Richie” Synek, inspiring young men to play better as a team than the sum of their parts.

Renny’s charm and enthusiasm made him a born salesman. He might have credited his start to the Black Seal Corporation, a driveway-sealing business he co-founded in high school that catered largely to his friends’ parents. Renny spent much of his career marketing electronic payment processing and technology to start-up businesses.

Ever the cockeyed optimist, Renny focused on the positive in people and in life. He made friends with all kinds of people, likely drawn by his infectious laughter, offbeat sense of humor, and unorthodox views on how to improve life on earth.

No doubt there was a connection between Renny’s joie de vivre and his battle with demon alcohol. After fighting back from the abyss himself, he devoted twenty-seven years to Alcoholics Anonymous, helping many others resist temptation one day at a time. There and elsewhere, he touched countless lives with his thoughtfulness and generosity. This is his legacy.

In his last years, Renny lurched from one medical ordeal to another. To the end, he remained hopeful and intent on his recovery. At the same time, he was not afraid. He would have no regrets if he did not survive the next one, because he already had lived a life full of the love and laughter that mattered to him most.