Leonard D. Meeks was born 10 April 1912 in Gatesville, Texas, some 
four days before the Titanic struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic and 
sunk.  He joined sibs Sudie, Manson, Raymond, and Mary as the last member 
of a prominent Coryell County family, the R. E. Meeks Family.  Leonard 
lived and played on East Leon Street until he was eight years old, then 
moved to the country when his dad, Robert E. Lee Meeks, founded Meeks 
Dairy.  Leonard attended school in Gatesville and graduated from high 
school in 1930 where, as a basketball player, was referred to as a star.  
He attempted to further his education by enrolling in John Tarlton 
Agriculture College in Stephenville, Texas, in September of 1930.  Because
it was during the "Depression Years", his advanced schooling lasted only 
one year.
    It was during this time that a blond hair, blue-eyed Norwegian beauty 
from Bosque County moved to Gatesville to work as a domestic in the home of  
Joe Hanna.  Her name was Inga Christene Bakke  and it was love at first 
sight.  As the months rolled by, there was talk of marriage and they faced 
their first big problem.  They both wanted a big church wedding, but were 
so poor they could barely afford a $5.00 wedding.  They confided in their  
Pastor of the First Baptist Church in Gatesville of their desires and 
problems.  The Pastor's name was Clarence A. Morton, and he had a suggestion
that they followed.  At the end of the regular Church service on Sunday, 14 
July 1931, Pastor Morton asked the congregation to be seated.  That was the 
signal for organist, Ola Mae Parks, to start playing the wedding march.  
Inga then walked down the aisle, met Leonard at the altar and they were married
in a big church wedding, without cost. 
    After Leonard and Inga were married, they took up residence at Meeks 
Dairy, where Leonard became one of the workers.  The dairy hand-milked a 
minimum of 50 cows, twice a day every day starting around 3:00 a.m.  
Leonard quickly decided that being a milk hand wasn't to his liking.  His 
Dad had opened a café a couple of years earlier and Leonard bought it from 
him and it was in August of 1931 that the Meeks Café we all know and remember 
opened for business. Located on the south east corner of the square, it 
served Gatesvilles need for over 4 decades.  Meeks Café could be considered
Gatesvilles first ice cream parlor.  Leonard told a Waco newspaper reporter 
in 1974 "It was ice cream that made the café.  I just thought of it one day, 
made a freezer of it and it sold like hot cakes, no, better than hot cakes. 
We had so many coming back that we sometimes had employees turning a handle 
24 hours a day.  After a while they started coming back to eat."  Leonard 
and Inga lived at the rear of the café, but moved to South 6th Street just 
before the birth of their first child.  Robert Earl "Bob" was born there 2 
November 1932.  Another son, Dewey, was born 26 January 1934, and Carol Ann 
was born 5 September 1943. Leonard and Inga made the operation of the café a 
profession, not just a job, and people responded by continued support.  It 
met the needs of early risers, late workers, was an ideal place for lunch for
business people and courthouse workers, hosted Saturday shoppers and was the 
place to meet after Church for Sunday dinner.  After the kids were in school, 
Inga worked with Leonard daily.  After the kids were married and gone, she 
still worked daily with her husband.  This companionship went on over 40 years, 
but came to an end that dark day in a Waco Hospital when Inga died on 30 April 
1971. 
    Leonard continued to run the café, but without his lifelong companion, 
it just wasn't the same.  After much thought, Leonard decided to close the 
doors and retire.  It was on 12 March 1974 that Leonard locked the doors for 
the last time and after 43 years of service to Gatesville, Meeks Café was no 
more.
    Leonard enjoyed hunting, fishing and just visiting friends for a few years, 
but finally decided to marry again and settle down.  The one he chose to be 
his wife was his first wife's younger sister, Clara. They were married 30 July 
1977.  They fished together, played 84 dominos twice a week together and 
attended all services together at the First Baptist Church.  Leonard was honored 
by his Church in 1992 where he was a member for 74 years, a Deacon 52 years, and 
sang in the Choir over 50 years. 
    They were also together that hot August night when Leonard had a heart attack.  
All efforts failed and Leonard died 22 August 1994.  He is buried by his first 
wife, Inga, in Gatesville.  Clara died 9 January 1996 and is buried by her first 
husband, Helmer Anderson, in Bosque County.

By Robert E. (Bob) Meeks