Newspaper Clipping - Newspaper Clipping Scan - Ted Wachter Eagan City Father dies at 89 - 4/12/2013Ted Wachter, Eagan city father, dies at 89
By Nick Ferraro
nferraroaamioneerpress.com
Posted: 04/12/2013 12:01:00 AM CDT
Updated: 04/12/2013 11:20:53 PM CDT
Ted Wachter (Photo courtesy of the City of Eagan)
Ted Wachter didn't stand along the sidelines as Eagan grew. Instead, he watched over Eagan's
expansion and guided it as a longtime city council member.
Wachter, a farmer who later built homes, spent 41 years as a public official for Eagan as it
transformed from a rural village, to a budding township, to a suburban boom town.
And yet, as a founding member, chair and resident storyteller of the Eagan Historical Society,
Wachter also made sure the city's past was not lost.
"Ted had an institutional historical knowledge of the community that he was able to draw upon
so well for many, many years," said Dakota County Commissioner Tom Egan, a former Eagan
city council member and mayor.
Services will be held Saturday, April 13, for Wachter, a charter member of the Eagan City
Council who died last month at age 89.
Wachter served 13 years on the Eagan Township advisory planning board before being elected to
the first village council in 1972. Two years later, when Eagan was incorporated as a city, he was
elected to the city council -- a position he held until his retirement in 1998.
"He was (an) initial city of Eagan leader," said Egan, who spent his entire 21 years on the city
council with Wachter. "He bridged the time when Eagan was kind of a sleepy township all the
way up the time when Eagan transcended to become the fastest-growing city in the state."
As a leader, Wachter "didn't avoid controversy," Egan said. "He was willing to make some very
tough decisions."
Tom Hedges, who retired last month after 36 years as Eagan's city administrator, called Wachter
a "real visionary." He noted how Wachter was instrumental in developing the comprehensive
guide plans for the city.
"Through that guidance, he made Eagan what it is today," Hedges said.
Wachter was also a proponent of preserving the city's old trees, supporting ordinances that
ensured developers kept old trees and planted new ones.
"We have more trees today than we did before developments," Hedges noted.
Wachter grew up on a family farm in Rosemount until federal government officials kicked them
off the land in 1942 so a gunpowder plant could be built, he told the Pioneer Press in 1998, prior
to his retirement from public office.
After farming land off Lexington Avenue for many years, Wachter worked as a contractor,
eventually operating his own home-building business.
"He would talk about building homes nail by nail," said Joanna Foote, Eagan's communications
coordinator. "They built the old-fashioned way, and he took pride in that."
Wachter's construction experience was valuable when the city was bidding for projects such as
the new city hall and police department buildings, Hedges said.
"He wanted to make sure things were done with quality," Hedges said.
Many will remember Wachter's passion for local history, said Foote, who is also the city's liaison
for the Eagan Historical Society. Wachter served as the group's chair from its founding in the late
1980s until 2002, when he stepped aside.
"He was the keeper of Eagan history better than anyone," Foote said. "He was a kind and gentle
soul who would tell stories and share history of the city with a twinkle in his eyes."
Wachter's survivors include his wife, Anne, and daughter Pam Hoppe.
A service begins at noon Saturday at Christ Lutheran Church, 1930 Diffley Road, in Eagan.