Arden E. Schacht

Arden Eugene Schacht, son of Paul Karl Henrich Schacht and Elsa Louise (Menebroker) Schacht was born on September 3, 1933 in Hot Springs, South Dakota.  He passed away on August 24, 2017 surrounded by his family at the Heritage Care Center in Fairbury, Nebraska at the age of 83 years,  11 months and 20 days.

Arden’s father Paul passed away when Arden was four. After his father’s death,  Arden attended several small town/country schools in northern Nebraska, moving several times with his mother who taught school. As a child, he enjoyed spending time with his cousins on his grandparents’ and uncles’ farms.  At the age of 12, Arden and his mother moved to Norfolk, Nebraska after Elsa remarried Wayne Colson.  Arden continued his education, graduating from Norfolk Senior High School in 1951.  He attended Norfolk Community College, earning his associate's degree in business.   Arden served in the army from 1953 - 1955 doing his basic training in Fort Riley, Kansas.  Following his service to his country, Arden moved to Omaha, Nebraska and worked at Wilson Foods until 1971.  While working at Wilson’s, Arden met his co-worker, Marilyn Jean McCauley.  While dating - Marilyn decided to travel to California to visit family.  Arden missed Marilyn so much that he decided to drive straight through from Omaha to California without stopping to sleep once.  Once there, he  persuaded her to come back to Omaha with him and they were married on July 13, 1957.  They lived in the Omaha/Papillion area  from 1957 - 1971. They moved with their four young children - Ron, Tammy, Mark and Scott  to Fairbury when Arden accepted a job as manager of Fairbury Foods.  While in Fairbury, a fifth child, Brad, was born. Arden worked very hard starting his business from the ground up and grew the business from two employees to 60 employees by the time of his retirement in 2003.  Not one to ever rest, Arden dabbled in the hardware business and even bought a share in a carpet cleaning business all after the age of 70.  Arden took pride in his hard work ethic.   He finally retired with Marilyn in 2013.  Due to failing health, Arden and Marilyn sold their beloved acreage and moved to an apartment in 2014.  In September of 2016, Arden was moved to the Heritage Care Center where he lived until his death.  Arden enjoyed camping with his family and was a faithful member of Grace Lutheran Church in Fairbury.

Arden was preceded in death by his father, mother and stepfather.  His survivors include his wife, Marilyn;  sons Ron (Denise) of Fairbury; Mark (Dawn) of West Des Moines, Iowa; Scott (Sarah) of Kenesaw, Nebraska; Brad (Kathy) of Waukee, Iowa; and daughter Tammy Ruhnke (Kurt) of Fairbury.  Twelve grandchildren: Trent Schacht, Kylie (Ruhnke) Farringer, Nick Schacht, Hailey (Schacht) Shireman,  Kirby Ruhnke, Kody Schacht, Brittany Schacht, Zach Schacht, Annie Schacht, Bethanie Schacht, Spencer Schacht and Samantha Schacht and five great grandchildren:  Tavian, Bennett, Elaina, Abram and Nolan. He is also survived by several cousins.

Funeral services will be Monday, August 28, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. at Grace Lutheran Church in Fairbury with Pastor Charles Schmidt officiating.  The family will greet friends at the funeral home on Sunday evening from 5:00 – 7:00.  Burial will be in the Fairbury Cemetery and memorials have been established to the Alzheimer’s Association.