Meier was born in Portland, Oregon, USA, on 26 July 1904, to parents Frederick William Leadbetter (1870–1948) and Caroline Thuseda Pittock (1870–1972). She had at least three older siblings: Frederick William Leadbetter Jr. (1896–1897), Henry Lewis Leadbetter (1900–1989), and Dorothy Vose Teren (1904–1992). Her maternal grandfather, Henry Lewis Pittock (1835–1919), was an English-born American pioneer, publisher, newspaper editor, and wood and paper magnate, frequently referred to as the founder of The Oregonian newspaper. She was a fragile child, and the doctor advised her parents that she should spend the colder months in the south. Consequently, the family would winter in Santa Barbara each year. She grew up in Portland, attending Miss Catlin’s School and St. Helen’s Hall. Later, she went to boarding school at The Santa Barbara Girls School, followed by two years in Paris.

In 1928, she married Ambrose Martin Cronin Jr. (1904–1947). They had six children: Elizabeth Noyes, Ambrose Cronin III (1930–2016), Dorothy Schoonmaker, Frederick Cronin (1934–2017), Sally Pope and Patrick Cronin. Her husband died on 21 December 1947, in the Oregon Journal helicopter crash.

In 1958, she remarried Julius L. “Jack” Meier Jr. (1912–1988), the son of businessman and politician Julius Meier.

Her mother died in August 1972, aged 102.

Meier passed away at her home in Portland, Oregon, USA, on 2 December 2014, at the age of 110 years, 129 days. She was survived by her children, one stepson, 24 grandchildren, 51 great-grandchildren, and four great-great-grandchildren.