Wayne Schichtl

Wayne Schichtl, 83, of 5500 S. Main, died on May 28, 2008 of natural causes. He was born September 16, 1924, in Algona, Iowa, son of Lucien and Florence Cook Schichtl. He graduated from the Burt, Iowa high school in June 1941. He worked at the McMullen Grocery & Market, in Burt, until May 1943, when he entered the Army. Following 10 weeks of Infantry training in Camp Wolters, Texas, his unit departed for Oran, North Africa on November 2, 1943. He was assigned to the 45th Infantry Division and served in Africa, Italy, France and Belgium. He was wounded in May 1944, and received the Purple Heart during the 4-month campaign on the Anzio Beachhead, 40 miles south of Rome, Italy, on the Mediterranean Sea coast. His unit marched into Rome on June 3, 1944. Nine weeks later, on August 15, his unit was assigned as part of the Allied force that landed on the beaches of Southern France. His division moved north in France until December when it was called to Liege, Belgium, where it served as reserves during the Battle of the Bulge, which began in the Ardennes Forest, near Malmedy, Belgium, at Christmas, 1944. Upon his discharge from the Army in November 1945, he soon entered Upper Iowa University, in Fayette, Iowa and graduated in 1950. He met his future wife in Fayette, the former Lena Gage of West Union. They were married August 12, 1951. He was the High School principal at the Fayette High School for nine years. He earned the Master's Degree in School Administration in 1957. He was the first principal of the Wapsie Valley School System, when it opened in the fall of 1959. He was recruited into the State Farm Insurance Companies in 1962. He was a field manager in Marshalltown for four years and then was moved to Omaha, Nebraska in 1968, as an Agency Manager. He was very active in the Center Baptist Church in Omaha, serving as the Deacon Board chairman and the Finance chairman for many years. After a 5-year study in life insurance he was awarded the Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designation in 1971. After 27 years with State Farm, he and his wife moved to Cedar Falls in 1991 and built their home at 4202 Tiffany Lane. In 2004, they sold their home and moved to the new Windcove Complex of the Western Home at 5300 S. Main Street. He has been the President of the Cedar Falls Gideon Camp during two 3-year terms and a member of the Gideons for some 30 years. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Lena, of Cedar Falls; one brother, Gary (Judy) Schichtl of Clear Lake; two nephews, Dr. Kurt (Karen) Schichtl and their children Storm, Chase and Gunner of Allentown, PA, and Dr. Scott Schichtl of Rockford, Ill; and a niece Jody (James) Gunderson of Denver, CO and their twin boys children, Isaac and Charles. Services will be held at Walnut Ridge Baptist Church, 11 a.m. Wednesday, June 4, 2008 with burial at the Waterloo Memorial Park Cemetery at W 4th and Ridgeway Ave. Richardson Funeral Home (266-3525) is in charge of arrangements . In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to Jews for Jesus, Walnut Ridge Baptist Church or Cedar Falls Gideons.

Wayne Schichtl

September 16, 1924 - May 28, 2008