Gerald Wachter

Gerald Lee Wachter, 55, of Cape Girardeau passed away after a short battle with cancer on Sunday, Oct. 30, 2016, at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau.

He was born Feb. 14, 1961, in Cape Girardeau, son of Eugene H. and Lavern Schmidt Wachter. He and Brenda Dubs were married March 12, 1984.

Gerald was baptized and confirmed at Zion Lutheran Church in Pocahontas and for the past 30 years has been a member of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Jackson.

He was a 1979 graduate of Jackson High School, before graduating as a diesel mechanic from Bailey Technical School in St. Louis. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1983 until 1987. After being honorably discharged, he worked as a diesel mechanic on heavy equipment for many years. He was currently the branch manager for Blueline Rental in Cape Girardeau.

His hobbies were crappie fishing, boating, hunting and four-wheeler rock crawling. For the past 10 years, he has been a faithful and loving caregiver to his wife, Brenda.

In addition to his wife of 32 years, loving survivors include two daughters, Ashley Wachter of Jackson and Lindsey Wachter of Cape Girardeau; two grandsons, Caedan and Logan of Jackson; his mother, Lavern Wachter of Jackson; a brother, Terry Wachter (friend, Saundra Richter) of Oak Ridge; three sisters, Vicki (Terry) Dye and Shari (Tim) Smith of Jackson, and Beth (Nick) Menneke of St. Louis; and six nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his father, Eugene Wachter, April 26, 1993.

The visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. today and from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Wednesday in Chapel A of McCombs Funeral Home and Cremation Center in Jackson. Visitation will resume at noon at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Jackson and will conclude at service time.

The funeral service will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the church, with the Rev. Eric Longman officiating.

Interment will be in Zion Lutheran Cemetery in Pocahontas with military honors.

The family suggests that contributions be made to St. Paul Lutheran Church or St. Paul Lutheran School.

Online condolences may be sent to the family by visiting mccombsfuneralhome.com.