Robert Meyerson died Wednesday, March 5, 2025, at his Atwater home with family. He was 80. 
A private family service will be held Tuesday, March 11, The service will be available online at www.hodroffs.com/robertmeyerson.
Robert Eric Meyerson was “born on Broadway” (in a New York Hospital) Aug. 6, 1944, growing up on Dyckman Street in the Spuyten Duyvil neighborhood of the Bronx, and later in Riverdale. His father Arthur served on the fire department and, with his knowledge of electronics, he helped develop the walkie-talkie in the 1940s. His mother Pearl (Fishman) worked at home (instilling tolerant messages like, “It takes all kinds”). In addition to his older sister Ethel, his relations included the illustrious bootlegger Waxey Gordon who spent time in Sing Sing, Leavenworth, and Alcatraz.
The first to attend college in his family (in part due to antisemitic rejection of his father Art from an Ivy League university), Robert graduated from Columbia University in 1966. He went on to study German Intellectual History under noted 19th-century German history scholar Otto Pflanze at the University of Minnesota, graduating with a Ph.D. in Modern European Intellectual History in 1972. He loved to write and tease people (with good humor); dance, garden, be outside with family in many natural settings, attend museums, work, read, and share his interests and scholarship with anyone sincerely dedicated to learning and engaging.
He met another student, Suzanne Danielson, at a class at the University of Minnesota; they agreed to attend a party together and soon enjoyed sharing college life. After graduating, he taught briefly at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga; he also taught the first Modern Jewish History Survey course at the U of M. When demand for historians particularly in his specialty during the Vietnam War precipitously declined, Bob’s mother-in-law and Atwater State Bank President Ruth Danielson famously said, “Why don’t you work in the bank until you get a real job?” He did. With a mixture of determination and reluctance, he devoted his years to learning about banking, and working for and growing the family business. Along with excellent staff, Bob grew the bank from a one-town bank to a six-location, two-bank holding company with its banks serving as many financial services as possible to promote their local economies.
Bob loved cross-country skiing and learned to downhill, and he participated in outdoor activities of all kinds in appreciation of the exhilarating and awe-inspiring effect of such enjoyment. While living in his first married home south of Atwater, he cleared walking trails for the family to use at the Lake Elizabeth family woodland acreage. In the mid-nineties, Bob’s family moved to the family cabin on Diamond Lake and eventually built a home there. Bob suffered a damaging fall on the ice during the last snowstorm of 2024 which led to the decline of his physical health. In recent years, he spent time renewing his interest in the study of Hannah Arendt as a weekly participant in the Hannah Arendt Center at Bard College’s Virtual Reading Group, and he came to work when his energy permitted and generous volunteers would provide a ride for him.
He is survived by his son Jin Meyerson (and Sunil Kim), his daughter Ella Elizabeth Meyerson, grandchildren Blue and Pearl Meyerson, and wife Suzanne who also is a community leader and banker. May his memory be a blessing.
In lieu of flowers or donations, the family requests instead a donation to an Atwater area cause of your choice.