Julius Meier - Later Years

Later Years

Time Magazine reported in 1937 that Meier had sunk most of his fortune into what it called his "pet financial hobby", the American National Bank of Portland, which was closed in June 1933 and its assets and liabilities acquired by First National Bank. After serving as governor he retired to "Menucha", his estate above the Columbia River in Corbett, Oregon, designed by architect Herman Brookman, where he died in 1937. He is buried at Beth Israel Cemetery in Portland.

Julius Meier's official portrait escaped the fire which damaged the state capitol in 1935, as his successor Charles H. Martin had not allowed it to be displayed, and transferred it instead to Meier & Frank, from whose vaults it was recovered by the Oregon Secretary of State 50 years later. Another version of the story holds that the architect of the 1938 capitol did not want portraits hanging on the marble walls, and banished Meier's to the "Store".

His family sold Menucha in 1950 to the First Presbyterian Church of Portland, which now operates it as a conference and retreat center. The Meier and Frank families sold the department store to the May Company in 1966. With May's sale to Federated in 2005, the store was renamed "Macy's" in September 2006.