Views
Opinion column
by Murrel Bland
I was saddened to learn of the recent death of Meredith Roberts Schraeder. She had suffered for several years from leukemia and complications following a bone marrow transplant. She was a few days from her 74th birthday.
I first met Meredith in the early 1970s when she was public information officer for the city of Kansas City, Kansas. It was a very challenging time for her as the newly elected mayor, Richard Walsh, was on a political house-cleaning binge; the mayor fired Meredith’s predecessor, Nancy Jack, who was aligned with the previous mayor, Joe McDowell. Nancy was very popular with reporters and a very trusted source.
Meredith was a quick learner and rose above the political fray. It didn’t take long for her to win the confidence of reporters. When Jack Reardon defeated Mayor Walsh in 1975, he chose to keep Meredith. During her stint at City Hall, she and Larry Hancks of the City Planning Department co-authored a book entitled “Roots,” which told of the architectural history of Wyandotte County; it was a project of the Kansas City, Kansas, Bicentennial Commission.
In the late 1970s, I helped Meredith found the Grand Central, a newspaper serving the 10,000 homes on and near Central Avenue. She also was a public relations counselor with a company aptly named “MRS” (her initials).
During the mid-1990s, Meredith served as the first executive director of Business West. In the late 1990s, she was part of a reform slate that was elected to the Kansas City, Kansas, Board of Education.
Meredith was an active volunteer with several organizations including the Wyandotte Players, the Historic Westheight Neighborhood Association, the Junior League of Wyandotte and Johnson Counties and Trinity United Methodist Church.
Surviving family members include her husband Jim, her daughter, Laura Schraeder Madden and her husband Justin Madden and their daughter Lydia.
The family is planning a memorial service this fall. The family has suggested that memorial contributions be made to the National Marrow Donor Program. That would be most appropriate.
Murrel Bland is the former editor of The Wyandotte West and The Piper Press. He is executive director of Business West.