Early Life
Meier was born in Portland to German immigrants of Jewish ancestry: Aaron, a merchant and founder of Oregon's largest department store, Meier & Frank, and Jeannette (Hirsch) Meier. He had three siblings, and was the father of Jean Ellen Meier Ehrman Reichert, Elsa Frances Meier Ganz, and Julius L. (Jack) Meier, Jr. He married Grace Mayer on Christmas Day, 1901, saying afterwards that it was the only day that he was allowed off from the store.
Meier graduated from the University of Oregon School of Law in 1895 and practiced law with a partner, George W. Joseph for the next four years, until he went into the family's business. According to family tradition, it was at this time that he added the "L" to his name; the sign painter, who was putting his name on the door, insisted that all lawyers of substance had one and Meier suggested an "L".
Read more about this topic: Julius Meier
Famous quotes related to early life:
“... goodness is of a modest nature, easily discouraged, and when much elbowed in early life by unabashed vices, is apt to retire into extreme privacy, so that it is more easily believed in by those who construct a selfish old gentleman theoretically, than by those who form the narrower judgments based on his personal acquaintance.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)