Sidney Myer - Personal Life

Personal Life

Myer was married twice. On 8 March 1905, he married Hannah and then married Nance Flegeltaub (1868-1963). They had no children, but in 1911 he acted as guardian of his nephew, Norman Myer, son of another of his brothers. In mid-1919, Sidney Myer went to the United States to study retailing. While there he divorced Hannah in Reno, Nevada,even though the divorce was not recognised under Australian law.

In 1920, he also converted to Christianity, and on 8 January 1920, he married Margery Merlyn Baillieu (later Dame Merlyn), on her 20th birthday. They had two daughters and two sons: Ken AC (1 March 1921 - 30 July 1992), Neilma (born 7 November 1922), Baillieu AC (born 11 January 1926), and Marigold Merlyn Baillieu Myer (Lady Southey AC) (born 2 May 1928). Merlyn Myer travelled to San Francisco for the birth of each of their four children to ensure they would be considered legitimate. The Myers returned to Australia in 1929.

Ken Myer was also a philanthropist, a prime mover behind the Victorian Arts Centre; chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation; and was offered and declined the governor-generalship of Australia. He and his brother Baillieu set up the Myer Foundation in 1959.

Sidney Myer's gravesite, a sepulchre for the reception of urns of ashes, is in Box Hill Public Cemetery in Melbourne. Also interred in the tomb are Dame Merlyn Myer, and Ken Myer and his wife, Yasuko, who perished together in a light aircraft crash in Alaska in 1992. The grave is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register. 37°49′18.06″S 145°7′58.35″E / 37.8216833°S 145.1328750°E / -37.8216833; 145.1328750

• Front approach to the Myer gravesite.

• Side view of the Myer gravesite.

• Inscription on the Myer gravesite.