Submitted by: John C. Monk
Harold B. Wackerle
Sept. 16, 1921 - Jan. 13, 2008
LaPAZ - Dr. Harold B. Wackerle, D.O, 86, went to be with his
Heavenly Father, on Sunday, January 13, 2008. He died peacefully
of natural causes in Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center, South
Bend, with Evelyn, his wife of 57 years, at his bedside. Dr.
Wackerle was born on September 16, 1921, in Deerfield, Mo., to
Harold E. and G. Marie Beahm Wackerle. He grew up in the
Southeastern Kansas towns of Bartlett and Chetopa. From
1942-1943, he studied premed at Coffeyville, (Kan.), Junior
College and Pittsburg (Kan.) State, before being drafted in June
of 1943. He served his country as a decorated staff sergeant in
the United States Army in World War II. As a member of the
Medical Corps of the 41st Army Infantry Division, under Gen.
Douglas MacArthur, he saw action in New Guinea and was in the
battles of Leyte, Mindora and Luzon. He made three separate
landings in the Philippines during the war. After receiving an
undergraduate degree on January 21, 1950, Dr. Wackerle graduated
from the Kirksville School of Osteopathic Medicine with a degree
in Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery. He mentioned often that he
was the last surviving member of his graduating class. In
February of 1951, he completed his internship at Detroit's
Osteopathic Hospital in Highland Park, Michigan. Three months
before, on November 18, 1950, in Ontario, Canada, Harold and
Evelyn McIlwain were married. She, a Registered Nurse, and her
husband practiced medicine together, side-by-side, for over 47
years. Their first office was in Lincoln, then Cole Camp and St.
Louis, Mo. He was elected County Coroner of Benton County, Mo.,
before coming to LaPaz, Ind., for his last forty years of the
practice of medicine. A devoted family physician, he made house
calls at all hours of the night: in the snow and the rain and
even delivered a baby under a street light in the back seat of
his new 1952 Chrysler. His office phone number was the same as
his residence and only a wall separated his clinic from their
home. This way patients always knew he was there for them. At one
time, he calculated that he had seen enough patients to fill
Notre Dame Stadium four times. Dr. Wackerle is survived by
Evelyn, his devoted wife, and by their two children and four
grandchildren. They are their son and daughter-in-law, Rex B. and
Kim Wackerle, and their children, Harold D. Wackerle and Lauren
A. Wackerle, all of Arlington, Va., and their daughter and
son-in-law and their children: Andrea M. and Earl M. Rozran, and
children, Eric Rozran and Marilyn M. Rozran, all of Pleasanton,
California. He was preceded in death by his parents, Harold E.
Wackerle and G. Marie Wackerle of Chetopa, Kansas, and his son,
Harold Stevan Wackerle, and sister, Virginia Marie Foley. Friends
are invited to visit with the Wackerle family on Friday, January
18, 2008, from 3 to 8 p.m. at the Johnson-Danielson Funeral Home,
1100 N. Michigan St., Plymouth, and on Saturday, January 19,
2008, for one hour prior to the 3 p.m. church services at the
Lakeville United Methodist Church, 610 N. Michigan St.,
Lakeville, Ind. The Reverend Larry Dimick and Reverend Doug
Erickson will officiate at the funeral services for Dr. Wackerle.
Burial will be in the Oakhill Cemetery of Chetopa, Kansas. The
family requests that memorial gifts in his name be made to the
Salvation Army. Notes of condolence and the sharing of memories
may be sent to the family via the funeral home's internet:
www.johnson-danielson.com.
Published in the South Bend Tribune on 1/16/2008.
See article, South Bend Tribune, Jan 18, 2001 Pg E1-E2