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Byron F. Wackett
1912 - 1980
Byron Wackett
Dies Today
05 17 1980
Byron F. Wackett, 68, 100 Oak Hill
Court, a 24-year member of the state legislature and former mayor of Watertown,
died early this morning at Watertown Memorial Hospital following a brief
illness.
Funeral services will be Tuesday,
at 2 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church with Rev. Walter Schumann
officiating. Burial will be in Oak Hill cemetery.
Friends and relatives may call to
pay their respects at the Pederson Funeral Home Monday from 4 until 9 p.m. and
on Tuesday until 11 a.m. The body will
lie in state at the church Tuesday from noon until the time of services. Memorials, if desired, may be given to
Trinity Lutheran School.
Wackett was born March 21, 1912, at
Randolph. He operated Wackett's Standard Oil Service Station, 316 West Main
Street, for 45 years, retiring in 1975.
He married the former Elda V. Kieck July 24, 1931, in Oconomowoc.
Surviving are his wife.
The local Republican held the
39th District Assembly seat since 1953. At the time he announced his retirement
in 1976 (his term ran until January of 1977), he had served the Assembly longer
than any other Republican in this century and ranked third in seniority among
GOP members in the state's history.
Wackett served as mayor of Watertown for
two terms, from 1946-49, when the office was abolished by the city manager form
of government. He was defeated in 1950
in his first bid for a legislative seat, but was elected to the post two years
later.
During his 24 years in the
legislature, Wackett served six terms on the powerful
Joint Committee on Finance, including two terms as its chairman, the last time
the Republicans held the majority status in the Assembly. During his last six years in office, he was
the ranking minority member on the committee.
Wackett was also chairman of the state
Veterans Affairs Committee and had served on the State Board on Government
Operations and on the Assembly's committees on engrossed bills, printing, state
affairs and municipalities. He was also
a member of the legislative council's special advisory committees on finance,
state programs, public welfare, University of Wisconsin Medical Center,
taxation, water resources and the reactivation of Camp McCoy.
He also served on the special legislative
council committee on lobbying laws in recognition of the fact that he was one
of only a few incumbent legislators in Wisconsin who refused to accept interest
group contributes toward their re-election efforts in 1974.
Wackett had also been active in large
number of civic groups and projects. He
was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church and had served on the church
council. He was past president of the
Watertown Historical Society and of the Wisconsin Association of Retail
Petroleum Dealers. He was presently
serving on the city's zoning board of appeals and was a director of the Hill
Cemetery Board.
He was also a member of the local
Lions and Wethonkitha clubs.
lda
V. Wackett
1911 - 2006
Elda Veronica Wackett,
95, of Watertown, died June 25, 2006, at Countryside Home in Jefferson
following a brief illness. Funeral
services will be held Friday at 2 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church in Watertown
with the Rev. Brett Brauer officiating.
Burial will be in the Oak Hill cemetery in Watertown.
She was born June 23, 1911, in
the town of Concord, the daughter of Edward and Lizetta
(Rohloff) Kieck. She married Byron F. Wackett
on July 24, 1931, in Oconomowoc. She was
a member of Trinity Lutheran Church of Watertown.
Survivors include one son, Robert
(Marialyce) Wackett of
Watertown; 10 grandchildren, Michael (Brenda) Wackett,
Waterloo, Ill., Richard Wackett of Sun Prairie, James
Wackett of Limestone, Maine, Toni Novak of Abbotsford, Linda (Andrew) Gee
of Watertown, Debra (Michael) Powers of Washburn, Kirk (Kathi) Wackettof Watertown,
Patricia Wackett
of Watertown, Susan Wackeft of La Crosse,
Aimee (Robert) Adams of Watertown; one brother-in-law, Lester (Agnes) Wackett
of Beaver Dam; nieces; nephews; other relatives and friends.
She was preceded in death by her
parents, her husband on May 17, 1980, and one sister.
Pederson Funeral Home 213 S.
Fifth St. Watertown
History of Watertown,
Wisconsin