John William Meyer

JOHN WILLIAM MEYER

November 16, 1960 - April 19, 2026

John William Meyer, known as "Jack" to his family, lived a full and exciting life that inspired others with his taste for adventure. Born in Pasadena, California on November 16, 1960, he moved with his parents, Dr. John and Nancy Meyer, to Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1964. A 1978 graduate of Ann Arbor Pioneer High School, John became fascinated by Asia, and especially China, at an early age. During the course of his studies at the University of Michigan, and following his graduation in 1982 with a B.A. in Political Science and East Asian Studies, John drove and later owned an Ann Arbor Yellow Cab taxi (#37), a job he enjoyed immensely and often spoke of fondly in later years. During his freshman year John was also a member of the Michigan Marching Band, an experience which was a point of pride for him.

In his early twenties John moved to San Francisco, where he worked in a variety of capacities as he saved up money for a long-anticipated trip to China. For four months in 1986, he and a friend backpacked around China and Tibet, pushing the boundaries of officially sanctioned tourism in a country that was only beginning to open up to the world. In 1991, John published his memoirs from this experience, No Turning Back: On the Loose in China and Tibet, a beautiful and lively account of his adventures. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he traveled extensively through Asia, basing himself in Hong Kong and Taiwan, where he taught English as a second language and continued his studies in Chinese. During these years he also made several trips back to the United States, where he likewise traveled extensively. John estimated that over the course of his life he had hitchhiked over 10,000 miles, mostly in the United States. He had traveled through every state in the country, with the exception of Alaska.

In 1991 John married Marie Kennedy, whom he had met in China. They lived together first for a brief time in Ann Arbor, then after traveling in China, Pakistan, and India, lived in Hong Kong and then Ireland, where John worked as a journalist for The Big Issue and then as the director of localization for Symantec, a role which led to a move to Taiwan. In 1999 John and Marie moved to California, where John continued to work in the tech industry, and where their son Raymond was born in Los Angeles in 2002. The family moved to St. Paul, Minnesota in 2005, where John worked for Veritas/Symantec and later for Dell. Following their divorce in 2016, John bought a house down the street in order to maintain an everyday role in Raymond's life.

John had a deep knowledge of and appreciation for all kinds of music, and was very active in the early punk rock scene in San Francisco. He loved to tell the story of how Iggy Pop was once a passenger in his cab, as well as members of the Ramones. John was also an enthusiastic fan of baseball and hockey, starting with the Detroit Tigers and Red Wings and then expanding his allegiances over the years while living in different cities.

In his later years John continued to travel, taking a multi-state west-coast road trip to celebrate his 60th birthday, as well as annual trips to his parents' cottage on Lake Michigan, and visits to Ann Arbor and elsewhere throughout the state to see friends and family.

Over the last years of his life John developed multiple medical conditions, and died of natural causes on April 19, 2026. John is survived by his beloved son Raymond Meyer, parents John and Nancy Meyer, sister Trish Meyer and brother in-law Mark Tucker, brother Jim Meyer, niece Eszter Meyer, nephews Jackson, Milo, and Rowan Tucker-Meyer, former spouse Marie Kennedy, dog Maggie, as well as countless friends and loved ones around the world. John was loved by many and will live in our hearts for the rest of our days.