EDWARD LEE GAUCHAT
1933-2024
Edward (Ed) Gauchat was born on October 16, 1933 on the family farm just South of Brock, NE. Ed was one of three children of Frederick Louis, Sr. and Henrietta (Jeanneret) Gauchat. Ed was baptized at the Brock Methodist Church and attended school in Brock, graduating from Brock High School in 1952.
After high school, Ed attended the University of Nebraska- Lincoln, where he received his Bachelor’s degree in Business. He married Dorothy Willard and they later divorced. Once he completed his degree, he enlisted in the United States Army. He was stationed at the Headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany from 1957-1959 and served in the Judge Advocate Division where he handled paperwork for the judges.
He sought employment in California and was hired by Wells Fargo in 1959 where he was a loan examiner for almost 30 years. He traveled all over the United States with Wells Fargo and lived in Redwood City, where he worked in San Francisco. Wells Fargo was getting ready to merge with America Trust and at that time they only had 13 branches. He was in charge of gathering data to help with the merger. In Santa Rosa, he worked in the loan center and was part of the auditing department. While in Carson, California, he oversaw documentation for loans. He then lived in San Pablo and worked in Oakland and wrote reports for businesses on the ag side in the credit department. Then, finally West Sacramento he did out-of -state examinations for ag and other types of loans. His agriculture background came in handy! He examined loans and credit quality at the branch level. Wells Fargo paid for all of his moving expenses which was quite rare in that time. In 1976 he won the Suggestion Box Idea Award and received a $5000 bonus. He took the bonus money and purchased 3,300 shares of Wells Fargo stock and had cash left over. It was approximately $1 per share at that time. Ed was very proud of his career with Wells Fargo and his investment portfolio.
In his retirement years, he loved traveling to Marysville, CA weekly to play pinochle with his friends. Ed enjoyed many fishing trips with his buddies. He traveled to Nebraska every Spring and Fall to visit family and friends. Ed so enjoyed getting everyone together for lunch and it was always his treat! He kept track of how many attended and sometimes it was close to 50. He took pride in his hobby of photography. You could always find him with a camera in his hand taking pictures of family and friends. Ed was an avid sports fan. The Sacramento Kings were his team for NBA and the San Francisco 49ers for NFL. You could always find him tucked into his recliner cheering on his team.
Ed’s health started to decline and his wish was to move back home to Nebraska. His wish was granted and it was on Thursday, February 15th when he arrived with plans of living in Norfolk, NE at an Assisted Living home. Unfortunately, he was only there a few hours and then transferred to the hospital where he passed away on February 17, 2024, at the age of 90 years, 4 months and 1 day. His parents, brother Fred Gauchat, Jr., sister-inlaw, Marcia Gauchat, brotherin- law Marvin Caspers, infant niece LuAnn Caspers preceded him in death. Ed was the most caring and kind man, that spent his whole life giving to others.
Those left to mourn his passing are his sister Blanche Caspers of Auburn, niece Jeannette Smith of Lansing, KS, nephew Mark Caspers (Jill) of Auburn, NE, niece Arlis (Mike) Scanlan of Papillion, niece Stephanie (Jeff) Kathol of Shawnee, OK, niece Charlotte (Brad) Easland of Norfolk, NE, great nieces & nephews Shaunassey Smith, Brittany Smith, Ben Scanlan, Mitch Scanlan, Kate (Colby) Fuxa, Claire Scanlan, Brighton (Riley) Meuret, Creighton (Hannah) Kathol, Mallory Easland, Sydney Easland & Blake Easland; other relatives and many friends.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, February 24, 2024, 11:00 a.m. at the Brock United Methodist Church in Brock. The family will greet friends one hour prior to the service at the church. Following the service there will be a Celebration of Life at the Johnson American Legion Building in Johnson. Burial of ashes will take place at a later date in Lafayette Cemetery at Brock.
Memorials are suggested to Brock United Methodist Church or Lafayette Cemetery.