LEONARD D. MEEKS
Inga Meeks -- Newton Tucker -- Leonard Meeks(with tie)
Leonard D. Meeks was born
10 April 1912 in Gatesville, Texas, some four days
before the Titanic struck
an iceberg in the North Atlantic and sunk. He joined
sibs Sudie, Manson, Raymond,
and Mary as the last member of a prominent
Coryell County family, the
R. E. Meeks Family. Leonard lived and played on
East Leon Street until he
was eight years old, then moved to the country
when his dad, Robert E.
Lee Meeks, founded Meeks Dairy. Leonard attended
school in Gatesville and
graduated from high school in 1930 where, as a
basketball player, was referred
to as a star. He attempted to further his
education by enrolling in
John Tarlton Agriculture College in Stephenville,
Texas, in September of 1930.
Because it was during the "Depression Years",
his advanced schooling lasted
only one year. It was during this time that a
blond hair, blue-eyed Norwegian
beauty from Bosque County moved to
Gatesville to work as a
domestic in the home of Joe Hanna. Her name was
Inga Christene Bakke and
it was love at first sight. As the months rolled by,
there was talk of marriage
and they faced their first big problem. They both
wanted a big church wedding,
but were so poor they could barely afford a
$5.00 wedding. They confided
in their Pastor of the First Baptist Church in
Gatesville of their desires
and problems. The Pastor's name was Clarence
A. Morton, and he had a
suggestion that they followed. At the end of the
regular Church service on
Sunday, 14 July 1931, Pastor Morton asked the
congregation to be seated.
That was the signal for organist, Ola Mae Parks, t
o start playing the wedding
march. Inga then walked down the aisle, met Leonard
at the altar and they were
married in a big church wedding, without cost. After
Leonard and Inga were married,
they took up residence at Meeks Dairy, where
Leonard became one of the
workers. The dairy hand-milked a minimum of 50
cows, twice a day every
day starting around 3:00 a.m. Leonard quickly decided
that being a milk hand wasn't
to his liking. His Dad had opened a café a couple
of years earlier and Leonard
bought it from him and it was in August of 1931
that the Meeks Café
we all know and remember opened for business. Located
on the south east corner
of the square, it served Gatesvilles need for over
4 decades. Meeks Café
could be considered Gatesvilles first ice cream parlor.
Leonard told a Waco newspaper
reporter in 1974 "It was ice cream that made
the café. I just
thought of it one day, made a freezer of it and it sold like hot
cakes, no, better than hot
cakes. We had so many coming back that we
sometimes had employees
turning a handle 24 hours a day. After a while they
started coming back to eat."
Leonard and Inga lived at the rear of the café,
but moved to South 6th Street
just before the birth of their first child. Robert
Earl "Bob" was born there
2 November 1932. Another son, Dewey, was born
26 January 1934, and Carol
Ann was born 5 September 1943. Leonard
and Inga made the operation
of the café a profession, not just a job, and people
responded by continued support.
It met the needs of early risers, late workers,
was an ideal place for lunch
for business people and courthouse workers,
hosted Saturday shoppers
and was the place to meet after Church for Sunday
dinner. After the kids were
in school, Inga worked with Leonard daily. After the
kids were married and gone,
she still worked daily with her husband. This
companionship went on over
40 years, but came to an end that dark day in a
Waco Hospital when Inga
died on 30 April 1971. Leonard continued to run the
café, but without
his lifelong companion, it just wasn't the same. After much
thought, Leonard decided
to close the doors and retire. It was on 12 March 1974
that Leonard locked the
doors for the last time and after 43 years of service
to Gatesville, Meeks Café
was no more. Leonard enjoyed hunting, fishing and
just visiting friends for
a few years, but finally decided to marry again and settle
down. The one he chose to
be his wife was his first wife's younger sister,
Clara. They were married
30 July 1977. They fished together, played 84
dominos twice a week together
and attended all services together at the First
Baptist Church. Leonard
was honored by his Church in 1992 where he was a
member for 74 years, a Deacon
52 years, and sang in the Choir over 50
years. They were also together
that hot August night when Leonard had a heart
attack. All efforts failed
and Leonard died 22 August 1994. He is buried by
his first wife, Inga, in
Gatesville. Clara died 9 January 1996 and is buried by her first husband,
Helmer Anderson, in Bosque
County.
By Robert E. (Bob) Meeks