Joyce Meyer

==Early life==
Meyer was born Pauline Joyce Hutchison in south St. Louis in 1943.{{cn|date=December 2023}} Her father went into the army to fight in [[World War II]] soon after she was born. She has said in interviews that he began [[Child sexual abuse|sexually abusing]] her upon his return, and discusses this experience in her meetings.<ref name="P-D1">{{cite news |title=Meyer traces her fervor to early abuse, alcohol |first1=Bill |last1=Smith |first2=Carolyn |last2=Tuft |url=http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/special/joycemeyer.nsf/0/1D29266A7F855B2886256DDF00701F8A?OpenDocument |work=[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]] |publisher=[[Pulitzer, Inc.]] |date=November 15, 2003 |access-date=August 22, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060127003333/http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/special/joycemeyer.nsf/0/1D29266A7F855B2886256DDF00701F8A?OpenDocument |archive-date=January 27, 2006}}</ref>

A graduate of [[Gateway High School (St. Louis)|O'Fallon Technical High School]] in St. Louis, she married a part-time car salesman shortly after her senior year of high school. The marriage lasted five years. She maintains that her husband frequently cheated on her and persuaded her to steal payroll checks from her employer. They used the money to go on a vacation to California. She states that she returned the money years later.<ref name="P-D1"/> After her divorce, Meyer frequented local bars before meeting Dave Meyer, an engineering draftsman. They were married on January 7, 1967.