Sibyl H. Myers told north Omaha students that she didn't necessarily set out to be a writer, but it was a career that allowed her to meet interesting people and
chronicle her community and its history.
Myers, The World-Herald's neighborhood columnist for years and the publisher of a new Dreamland magazine, died Monday of heart failure. She
was 55.
Myers' life story and her honest discussions with teens proved inspiring, said Kelly Arbuckle, a library media specialist at McMillan Magnet Center. Teenagers lined up to talk with her and to share the stories and poems they had written.
Myers planned to return to the school in a couple of weeks to talk to parents and to work with students who resist writing. Her death Monday will be felt by those students, Arbuckle said.
Her death also will be a loss to the broader community. Myers devoted herself to helping senior citizens, inspiring at-risk kids, championing Omaha's neighborhoods and pushing north Omaha to revitalize itself through an understanding of its history.
"This is a tremendous loss for north Omaha and for news, community events," said Omaha City Councilman Frank Brown.
Myers brought "a sensitive nature" to her reports on community events, said Brown, who knew Myers most of his life. "She made you want to go and participate."
She had been hospitalized late last year with a bacterial infection but had returned home and seemed to be getting better, said her sister Valarie Wilson of St. Louis.
Myers was an Omaha native, one of three children born to Helen and Lawrence Kenneth Myers. Growing up and in adulthood, she was associated with the Myers' family funeral home, started by her grandfather, taken over by her father and uncle and now owned by her brother Lawrence Kenneth Myers Jr.
But early on, she established a name for herself in the community as a writer. After graduating from Central High School in 1969 and later Drake University in Des Moines, she joined The World-Herald staff in 1975 as a full-time reporter.
Myers covered a number of topics for the paper in the 10 years on the staff. Wilson said her sister was most proud of the story she wrote after interviewing Alex Haley, the author of "Roots." Wilson still has a picture of her sister interviewing the famous writer.
Soon after joining the paper, Myers began writing a neighborhood column. Three decades later - long after she had left the paper to help with her family's business and get more involved in the community - Myers still wrote about happenings in neighborhoods across the city as a correspondent for the newspaper.
"Sibyl and I started at The World-Herald on the same day back in 1975," said World-Herald Executive Editor Larry King. "Over the next 30-plus years, I've seen her work as a full-time journalist, as a weekly columnist and as a publisher and businesswoman. Her integrity, her compassion and her love for Omaha and its people were clear in all she did."
Chris Foster, former president of the Gifford Park Neighborhood Association, said Myers wrote about more than the "peripheral stuff."
"She wrote about the character of the neighborhood. . . . It really meant a lot to have people say, 'I saw you and the work you're doing in the (community).' A lot of that was because of Sibyl."
Myers' neighborhood column often was the first thing neighborhood activists would turn to in the Monday paper, said Anne Hindery Camp, who formerly oversaw the Omaha Community Foundation's neighborhood-giving program.
Neighborhood groups trusted Myers because of her sincerity and strong belief in what she did, Camp said: "In so many ways, she was the reliable source for neighborhoods. Her column was a way to stay connected."
Camp said Myers also earned respect for how she "walked the walk and didn't just write the words."
On any given weekend, Myers could be found organizing neighborhood cleanups or public art projects - activities that showed she had a genuine interest in the community, Camp said.
Myers had devoted much of her time in recent years to her community activism, much of it supported with grants, her sister said. Wilson sometimes urged Myers to leave Omaha. Other times, Wilson said, she would ask her sister why she didn't "get a real job" that came with a regular paycheck.
The answer, Wilson said, always was the same: Too many talented people leave Omaha. She was going to stay and make a difference.
Among Myers' community projects were colorful murals painted by youngsters she recruited to adorn north Omaha.
Myers' love of north Omaha "can be seen on buildings across Omaha," Brown said.
She wanted her Dreamland magazine to serve as yet another impetus to improve the community, her sister said. She published three editions, the last completed while struggling with illness. Each one highlighted an African-American who succeeded and contributed to north Omaha. The publications also showcased pictures and stories of less well-known north Omahans.
Subscriptions to the magazine exceeded her sister's expectations, Wilson said. People across the country requested copies because the magazine was well done and kept the community connected, she said.
Judy Pearl-Lee, who grew up with Myers and is president of Frontier Bag Co., said Myers "never forgot her roots in the community. She had a vision for this part of north Omaha."
Steve Larrick of Lincoln, the former longtime coordinator of the Nebraska Urban Community Improvement program, called Myers "a light to the community."
"Sibyl was synonymous with community, with people caring for each other and finding the good in each other. . . . She was there to stand and tell the story of what neighborhoods can accomplish with volunteers," he said. "She tried to help older parts of the city to not just die, but to thrive."
Staff writers Mahalia Asanaenyi, Christopher Burbach, C. David Kotok and Lynn Safranek contributed to this report.
