“You were gone before we knew, and only God really knows why. They say time heals all sorrow and helps us to forget. But time has so far only proven how much we miss you still. A million times we have thought of you, a million times we have cried. If love alone could have saved you, you would never have died.”
“A Tribute to My Husband Matt Meier,” by Katie Meier
If dreams do come true, then Matt Meier was flying on cloud nine.
At 28 years old, he had landed a job with United Airlines and had walked down the aisle with his new bride, Katie. Life couldn’t get any better for this guy who had developed an infatuation with airplanes as a child, begging his dad to take him to the airport for Sunday afternoons, just to watch the planes fly.
A fairy-tale-like scrapbook tells the story. Pages and pages of pictures and a homemade video of memories chronicle his college football career, his new on-the-job exploits at United and his head-over-heels romance with Katie, whom he met on a blind date set up by a co-worker.
But just six months into his dream job, the young aircraft router began experiencing pains and was diagnosed with a rare form of testicular cancer. On Sept. 25, 1996, the fast-acting cancer took his life.
During the last 1 1/2 years, Katie Meier, 34, who lives in the northwest suburbs, has been left with hefty medical bills as a result of alternative treatments that weren’t covered by insurance and the stinging reality of death. She has had to deal with the crippling sorrow of loss; the forging on; the searing ache that rips at your gut that seemingly will never go away; and, ultimately, the acceptance that you must move ahead, even though the person you loved more than life itself, and all those dreams, are gone.
“It all just seems like a turbulent roller coaster ride,” says Meier, who was laid off from her job at a financial institution during the course of her husband’s illness and is now unemployed. “But I try to focus on the impact Matt had on so many lives and all the good it has brought.”
Though sorrow threatens to engulf Meier at every turn, she forges on. Much of her courage she draws from her Catholic faith. For fortitude and support, she turns to her husband’s former co-workers–now among her closest friends–at United Airlines.
“Everybody who met Matt said, `This guy is totally amazing,’ ” Meier says. “He just made an impact on so many people’s lives.”
In a highly unprecedented gesture, the Elk Grove Village-based airline last year named an airplane after Matt. He is one of a handful of the 85,000 employees of the international carrier to receive such an honor.
What’s more, his co-workers rallied around him during his illness, staging fundraisers, silent auctions and raffles to help the couple cope with staggering medical bills. And they continue to give Katie Meier support.
“The response we received from employees was tremendous,” says Patti Paez of Hoffman Estates, a systems controller for United, describing a silent auction she and Matt’s co-workers organized at the company headquarters. They raised more than $2,000 from the event, which was merely done by soliciting prizes from local companies, posting the prizes on the bulletin board and collecting the money from co-workers.
“Most people really didn’t know him, but they’d take out their checkbooks and write a $10 or $20 check and then they would ask for months how he was doing,” Paez says. “And, of course, everyone who knew him here couldn’t do enough to help him. He was just one of those standout employees and guys you never ever forget.”
On Feb. 27, 1997, Katie, along with Matt’s parents, Carl and Patricia Meier, who live in Hawaii, was invited to O’Hare International Airport by United representatives, given an ambassador-style tour and transported by van onto a ramp, past a sea of airliners and onto a gate where a freshly painted Boeing 737 was parked.
In bold white letters, “Matthew Meier” was splashed across the cobalt blue belly of a United Airlines 737. The commercial aircraft now flies across the country bearing Matt’s name. This naming procedure, once reserved exclusively for select employees, premiere first-class and Connoisseur Class frequent flying customers and airline honchos, is being phased out as planes get repainted, and Matt’s will be the only plane to sport a name.
“I just burst into tears when I saw it,” Meier says. “I knew how much airplanes meant to Matt–he even went to the airport in between chemo treatments to lift his spirits. The thought of a commercial aircraft flying across the U.S. bearing Matt’s name for the entire country to see, that just touched my soul deeply.”
Jim Pierscionek was Matt’s boss at United. “Matt was a fine young man and one of the most considerate, wonderful people who never complained about his workload or his illness,” he says. “It was clearly evident the impact he made on other employees at United. His passion for aviation was contagious.”
Shortly after Matt died, Pierscionek and co-workers looked for a way to honor their co-worker. “We knew we wanted to do something to pay tribute to him,” he says. “At the time, there was a changing culture in the company with employees becoming the owners. Since (our department) managed the 737 fleet of planes, we went to the higher-ups and convinced them this would be a suitable tribute for this young man. We know he’s up there in heaven and some days he looks out and sees his plane fly by.”
Rev. John Cusick, who married the Meiers and then months later was at Matt’s bedside when he died, sees United’s support for the couple and the airplane tribute as sending a strong message to young adults that “big business can care.”
“Matt was an exceptional guy who made a profound impact on everyone he met,” says Cusick, director for the Young Adult Ministry Office of the Archdiocese of Chicago. “The airlines went above and beyond the call of duty for him. But they also sent a strong message to young adults that big business can be a key player in social consciousness.”
Coincidentally, the plane also is used to shuttle more than 100 students annually from high schools across the country to Southern Illinois University, Matt’s alma mater and where he applied his college athletic scholarship to earn a bachelor’s degree in aviation management. The students travel to SIU for an annual United Airlines aviation management career day.
On March 29, 1997, the day that would have been Matt’s 29th birthday, Meier took her first ride on his airplane to Richmond, Va., as part of the high school student shuttle program. Thirty-five thousand feet in the air, the United flight attendant gave a eulogy to Matt over the PA system. Afterwards, the passengers and crew, many wiping away their tears, lined up to give Meier a hug.
“It was a magical experience,” says Meier, who in gratitude to Matt’s co-workers and United has car license plates that read “UAL 9933,” Matt’s employee identification number. She buried her husband at St. Adalbert Cemetery in Niles, which lies directly under a United flight pattern.
These days, Meier is struggling to rebuild her life. She shares her pain, in the hope it will help others, through a grief support group for young adults that was founded last year by Cusick at Old St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Chicago. She keeps in constant communication with Matt’s co-workers through phone calls, letters and other gestures of concern.
For United employees, Matt Meier’s life has left a lasting imprint.
“Some days, we’ll be in the middle of our work and it’s really hectic and we’re all stressed out, (and) then all of a sudden, we’ll see Matt’s airplane coming on to the runway,” Paez says. “I still can’t help but cry when that happens. It’s almost like he’s here again in the room with us, with that big smile and contagious smile of his. But he’s not. First you just think, `Why? Why did this happen to this guy who had so much potential, a guy you just knew would be the type to make his dreams come true?’ But he never got the chance.
“Then you look back at his name on that plane, and you think, `Well, kiddo, you did make it. You’re flyin’ above us all.’ “
HOW ONE FIRM REACHES OUT
The response by United Airlines to the plight of Matt Meier made a big difference to his wife, Katie, during and after their tragedy. But it also underscores the expansive and largely behind-the-scenes efforts at this giant company to help out in small but significant ways.
The company’s commitment plays out in Elk Grove Village, where United’s company headquarters is located, and in neighboring northwest suburbs, where employees are active in charitable organizations and schools.
From mentoring and school-to-work programs in northwest suburban elementary and high schools to constructing Habitat for Humanity houses and stocking food pantries throughout the Chicago area and the world, the company’s mission in local communities is to support programs that “strengthen the education of the world’s young people, improve the quality of life in our home-town communities and wage a fight against major health problems,” according to United spokesperson Joe Hopkins.
The airline’s track record on this charitable front speaks for itself. In 1952, when the United Foundation was established, the charitable arm supported only one organization: United Way. Today, United supports more than 300 charitable organizations across the globe.
What is happening at United mirrors a philanthropic movement at many other local companies as more and more of them are delving into this hands-on commitment to community service, according to Carol Pape, interim president for the Northwest-Schaumburg Association of Commerce and Industry (NSACI).
“Over the last five or six years, more companies seem to be going way beyond the foundation-giving-money approach,” Pape says. “They’re getting involved in issues that the employees care personally about and rolling up their sleeves to get involved in the community. It also ties into the trend to do more team-building.”
Through a partnership in education program, United field service instructors have taught almost 200 high school juniors and seniors at the three Maine Township schools in Des Plaines and Park Ridge about the rigors of reservations positions at the airlines. The classes are held daily for a semester and are designed for students who are interested in alternative career paths, according to Bernadette Padula, field service instructor and one of the program teachers.
“We’re here to help them get a positive start in the work force,” Padula says.
At St. Raymond Catholic School in Mt. Prospect and Orchard Place and South Elementary Schools in Des Plaines, more than 50 employees from United’s nearby reservations facility are bringing the community to the classroom by teaching in the Junior Achievement program. What’s more, about 200 employees from that office participated in JA’s annual bowl-a-thon Feb. 21 at Woodfield Lanes and raised $16,000 for the group.
“The employees do it because they want to give something back to the community,” says Joy Heyden, supervisor for quality control and culture at United’s reservations facility. “But, for us, it is very rewarding to spark that interest in the children and know we’re making an impact in their lives.”
