Fred Jaeckle

Fred Jaeckle, age 79, passed away at his home on Tuesday, January 23, 2024, after a fierce battle with pancreatic cancer, and just 9 days after his beloved wife of 49 years, Jane Jaeckle.  

Fred was born on December 8, 1944, to Fred and Verna (Gauss) Jaeckle in St. Louis, Missouri.  Fred attended Cleveland High School, studied civil engineering at Missouri University, and graduated in Construction Management at Washington University in St. Louis.

Fred was the cherished husband for 49 years of the late Jane Jaeckle; loving father of Reid Jaeckle; brother-in-law of Janice (the late Jim) Mealey and Judy (Mike) O’Brien; dear uncle of Jamie (Lynn) Mealey, and Jeremy (Chrissy) Mealey; and great-uncle of Jillian and Kate Mealey.   

Fred spent his entire career in the construction industry.  After learning the ropes, he was promoted to Vice President of Construction Operations with HBE Corporation.  For 15 years he led a group of regional managers, superintendents, and project engineers in constructing hospitals, banks, medical office buildings and hotels in the Eastern half of the US.  After HBE Fred spent 5 years with Turner Construction as the Project Executive on a major prison program as well as Sr. Project Manager for Healthcare and other miscellaneous programs.  Fred found his forever home away from home in 1995 when he went to work for S. M. Wilson & Co., where he worked (and was part owner) until his retirement in 2016.  In his role as Vice President of Preconstruction and Estimating, Fred worked on hundreds of commercial, healthcare, retail, education, senior living and industrial projects worth more than a billion dollars.  Throughout his 20-year tenure at S. M. Wilson, Fred honed the company’s pre-construction and estimating services with his extensive knowledge and his collaborative, pleasant and disarming nature.

Fred retired from the Missouri National Guard after 34 years as a Colonel and was very proud of his service.  His drill weekends every month and two-week periods each year were his way to serve both his State and Country.  He played a key role as commander of the Southeast task force during the great flood of 1993 which was Missouri’s largest call-up in 60 years - 4,500 soldiers were activated.  He was also proud to achieve the highest rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America.

When he was not serving his customers at work and our Country in the National Guard, Fred was involved with the Labor Committee and Carpenter Negotiating Team of the Associated General Contractors of St. Louis, Special Olympics Missouri, Board Member of the St. Louis ARC, and member of the Construction Engineering & Project Management Advisory Council at Washington University McKelvey School of Engineering.  Fred and Jane also enjoyed spending time with their son Reid at their home in Bonita Springs, FL. 

Fred was an extraordinary mentor and friend to many people along the way, a dedicated husband and father, and an unabated caretaker of both Jane and Reid until he left us to be reunited with his best friend, confidant, and partner in crime. 

Services: Visitation at the SCHRADER Funeral Home and Crematory, 14960 Manchester Road at Holloway, Ballwin, Monday, January 29, from 10:00 a.m. until time of service at 11:30 a.m. Interment at Resurrection Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to St. Louis ARC. Friends may sign the family’s on-line guestbook at Schrader.com.