Katy business icon Herman Meyer has died, his family announced in a September 4 post on Facebook. According to the obituary posted on the Schmidt Funeral Home website, Meyer passed away peacefully at home surrounded by family.

Meyer was the owner and operator of Meyer Foods, which includes Midway Meat Market, Midway Deer Processing, and Midway BBQ, all located along Highway Blvd. north of Katy’s historic town square. Despite a catastrophic fire in 2021 that nearly destroyed Midway BBQ, Meyer rebuilt the facility, which has long served as the principal gathering place for virtually every kind of significant event in Katy – from meetings of the Katy Business Association (now the Katy Business Alliance) and the Katy Christian Chamber of Commerce to Scouts dinners to retirement parties to political rallies to book signings for Katy’s fledgling authors.

Born in Needville in 1935, Meyer began learning the grocery business in the fourth grade, working at a local store owned by Bill Dube, according to the obituary. He graduated from Katy High School in 1954 before attending the University of Texas, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Management in 1958. Meyer also volunteered for the U.S. Army and served two years on active duty at Fort Knox, Kentucky.

In 1961, he returned to Katy and again worked at Dube’s Super Market. By 1967, with the support of his father, he fulfilled his dream of running his own store, founding Midway Meat Market. He expanded the business to include wild game processing, making Midway Deer Processing a destination for hunters across the region. In the mid 90's, Meyer realized his grocery store and deer processor customers had nowhere to go for good BBQ in Katy, so he opened a shack in front of Midway Grocery Store and called it Midway BBQ.

Meyer is survived by his wife Patricia Ann Simpson, daughter Patricia Cummins, granddaughter Yanna Karvounis, and grandson George Karvounis, and his sisters Shirley Meyer Hilliard and Betty Meyer McMahon.

Visitation and viewing were scheduled at Katy Community Fellowship, 24102 Kingsland Blvd, Katy, on September 8, with funeral services held at the church the following day. A reception followed at Midway BBQ, 6191 Hwy Blvd, Katy, where family gathered for a celebration of life. All events took place after the Katy Times went to press for this issue.

Donations in Meyer’s memory may be made to Katy Community Fellowship or Brookshire Masonic Lodge 1066.

“We are forever proud to call you the husband, father, and grandfather you were,” said the family in the Facebook post. “Your example will guide us for the rest of our lives, and your legacy lives on in each of us. You were, and always will be, our greatest inspiration.”