John W. (Jack) Wegener

Jack Wegener, age 85, of Yakima, passed away on February 26, 2017 after a short and courageous battle with complications after surgery.

Jack was born on either June 21 or June 22 (don't ask - it was an ongoing, life-long argument over the correct date), 1931 in Winner, South Dakota. He grew up on farms in Winner, South Dakota; Hornick, Iowa; Mt. Vernon, Washington; Forks, Washington; Elma, Washington; and finally Chehalis, Washington. He graduated from Chehalis High School in 1949 and went to work for Darigold. Shortly after, he was hired by International Harvester. Jack spent his entire career with the construction equipment group of IH, which was acquired by Dresser Industries, which was acquired by Komatsu. He retired from Komatsu in 1990, and immediately went back to work for them on contract until 2010. Jack, who could not stay retired for long, found a part-time job with Yakima Collision, where he worked until last fall.

Jack married Charlotte Lundgren, a local Chehalis girl, on October 4, 1958, and they had three children. Following his job across the country and back, Jack and family lived in Chehalis, Washington; Beaverton, Oregon; Salt Lake City, Utah; Federal Way, Washington; Albany, New York; and Palatine, Illinois before retiring to Yakima in 1990. They were members of Holy Family Catholic Church.

Jack cherished his wife Charlotte who preceded him in death in 2013 after 54 years of marriage.

Jack loved his children daughters Kim (Randy) Seebach of Gurnee, Illinois, Cheryl (Dan Granger) Franks of Yakima, and son Bob (Meghan Olson) of McHenry, Illinois. He also loved everybody else's kids. Jack treasured his ten grandchildren - Kelly, Brendan and Colin Seebach, Brittany, Hillary and Courtney Franks, and Elyssa Granger, and John II, Thomas and James Wegener. He also treasured everybody else's grand kids, especially Piper Lundgren and Kirstie Munson.

As Jack would say, he loved 'The Potentials" - Brett Valicoff, Kady Havemeyer, Katie Pennington and Zack Osborn. Jack adored his many nieces and nephews and other family members, including Mardi Hackett and Tim Franks, both of Yakima.

Jack treasured his cabin on White Pass and the time spent there with family and friends. Jack cherished all of his neighbors, work associates and friends, old and new. Especially Roger Hanna, Gene Ritnour, Jack McGuire and Jeff and Yvonne Munson.

Jack loved his black lab, Libby. And, everybody else's dogs. They say people start to look like their dogs- well, Jack and Libby didn't look alike but they shared many labrador retriever breed characteristics; friendly, outgoing, even-tempered, gentle, kind, trusting, hard-working, affectionate and devoted to family, love company, highly intelligent, with an above average drooling potential. She was his best friend.

Jack will be loved, cherished, treasured, adored and missed by all.

Jack was preceded in death by his wife Charlotte, his parents Henry and Catherine Wegener, and sisters Bobbie Rieck, Mary Blomstrom, Catherine Trodahl and Anne Neer.

Those wishing to honor Jack's memory may contribute to Memorial Hospice, care of the Memorial Foundation.

A celebration of Jack's life will be held on Saturday, August 5th from 1:00 - 5:00 pm at White Pass Lodge.

Please raise a scotch and water in his memory. To quote his granddaughter Brittany, "He was a strong man with a loving heart."