Contributor

Dr. Gerry Meisels

3 published articles

Dr. Gerry Meisels and his wife, Sylvia, have owned, bred, and shown West Highland White Terriers since 1959. Their love of Westies began with a daughter of Westminster BIS winner Ch. Elfinbrook Simon. Gerry’s job took the couple from Pittsburgh to Ramsey, New Jersey, Houston, Texas, Lincoln, Nebraska, and Tampa, Florida. They have lived in the Tampa area since 1988. They are primarily breeder/owner-handlers who have finished 68 home-bred Westies, and have repeatedly received parent club recognition for BBE success and top-producing bitches. Their GCHG White Oaks Invincible Snowplow was the No. 1 Westie in 2014. Their daughter, Laura, still holds the record as the youngest handler (at 8 years of age) to ever go BIS at an all-breed show, and she currently shows three young dogs from their last litter. Gerry has judged Westies since 1972 and all Terriers since 1982. In 1976, Gerry and his family spent three months in Great Britain, visiting kennels and dog shows every weekend and acquiring six Westies. Gerry has been an AKC Delegate, Officer, and President of several all-breed clubs. He was founding President of the Westie specialty clubs in Houston and Tampa, and was on the Board of the WHWTCA. Gerry was born and raised in Vienna, Austria. He came to the US in 1951 as a Fulbright pre-doctoral fellow in Chemistry at the University of Notre Dame, receiving the Ph.D. in 1956. After 26 years of research and teaching, he became Dean of Arts and Sciences at the University of Nebraska, and later, Provost and Vice President at the University of South Florida. He retired in 2021, a few days after his 90th birthday.