Lyndon John Immel

Lyndon John Immel passed away January 26, 2026, at his residence; the same residence which he and his wife, Barbara built in 1958 and spent all 67 years of their marriage. He was born in Fredericksburg, TX on July 23, 1938, to Clemens and Viola Klein Immel. Both predeceased him.

Lyndon married Barbara Zenner Immel on May 31, 1958, and she survives. They had four children. All survive and reside in Fredericksburg. Russell Immel and wife Terri; Laurie Dietel and husband Dean; Wendy Reeh and husband Wade; and Scott Immel and wife Jenny.

Lyndon is survived by one sister, Jerri Smedley and spouse Bobby from Fredericksburg. He was predeceased by his brother Alton. Alton's spouse, Janie Evers Immel survives and resides in Fredericksburg.

Lyndon's Father-in-law and Mother-law, Louis and Margaret Zenner, predeceased him as well as a sister-in-law and her husband, Joyce (Tootie) and Armo Baethge. Carol and Larry Grobe, a Sister-in-law and brother-in-law, survive.

Lyndon had 8 grandchildren. Kara and Philip Staats of Fredericksburg; Jay and Kasey Immel of Mason; Logan and Lerrin Dietel of New Braunfels; Eric and Brooke Dietel of Fredericksburg; Dillon and Hannah Reeh of Fredericksburg; Kyle and Paxten Reeh of Fredericksburg; Cole Immel of Fredericksburg; and Brooks Immel of Fredericksburg.

In addition, Lyndon had 11 great grandchildren (and two more on the way) and a step great-grandson as well as numerous nephews and nieces and great nephews and nieces.

Lyndon's family moved to Holtville, California in 1946. They returned to Fredericksburg in 1955 and he graduated from Fredericksburg High School. One of his first high school jobs was working at the Fredericksburg Drive-In Station, owned by his father, as a gas attendant. The station stood at the corner of Main and Llano. After graduation, he went to work for WH Osborn delivering fuel for Texaco. He was then offered a job with Good Year Tire and Auto on Main Street where he worked his way up the ranks and eventually became Manager. In the early 1970's he went to work for Kenneth Kothe at Behrend Garage, Inc. After a year, he was offered the opportunity to purchase the Ford and GMC dealership. He and Good Year "buddy", Robert (Bob) A. Loth, Jr. partnered and took a leap of faith and bought the dealership. They kept the dealership until the mid-1980's when Lyndon's brother, Alton, purchased ownership. Together. Lyndon and Alton added the Dodge dealership on Hwy. 87 South and relocated to that site from Main Street. They now had Ford, Dodge, and GMC at one location and renamed Behrend Garage to Immel Motors. It remained until they both retired and it was sold in 2015. It remains at the same location and is now McLane Ford of Fredericksburg. Lyndon was fortunate to build a great relationship during this time with the McLane and McCarty families.

Throughout his life he was a member of St. Mary's Catholic Church and was a part of the ACTS retreat. He served a period as St. Mary's parish council president. He was an active member of the Optimist Club of Fredericksburg and had been a member of the St. Joseph's Society, Knights of Columbus, Jaycees, and the Chamber of Commerce.

Anyone who knew Lyndon would always say that he never met a stranger. One of his favorite sayings was "one more time for the good times". He lived life with a smile on his face and had an infectious personality to be around. He loved big hugs so if you saw him, you were likely getting one. Lyndon had many lifelong friends over the years. In their early years, they enjoyed their annual fishing and hunting trips along with many couples that would get together for card and domino gatherings, New Years, and Super Bowl parties, and any other excuse to just get together. All the parents would just let the kids run around and be kids. Many life-long relationships were built through this and last with all survivors today. This is a great example of how simple life events can be that build life-long relationships.

Lyndon always thought of his employees as family and was forever grateful for each one of them. Many of them describe the feeling of him as a co-employee / friend rather than a boss and they said that is why he was respected by so many of them. He did not worry about the title his employee had but only what kind of person you were, and everyone was treated with the same respect. The relationship he built with so many customers over the years also meant the world to him.

Since Lyndon and Barbara had many children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren go through St. Mary's and Fredericksburg High School, he and Barbara were constantly seen at their sporting events. To many of the players and coaches, it became a great relationship and in later years he became "Opa Lyndon" to many of his grandchildren's friends, who often joined them for lunch on Wednesdays at their home.

He loved to be outdoors until he could no longer do that and then he would spend many hours in his "butcher room" doing different things. He was always willing to share this building with anyone.

Lyndon's greatest love was obviously his wife of 67 years, Barbara. They are a true example of marriage. It was important to them that they talked and taught their children it is not always roses and you must work at it. His family was everything to him. As many of the family members that could make it would always come to the monthly family get together that would rotate at the four kid's homes in Fredericksburg. He so looked forward to these. About the last 5 years these monthly gatherings were at Lyndon and Barbara's home and became family "work-day" doing things he and Barbara could no longer do. He always had a "list" and usually 20-25 of the 40+ family would be there for "work" and fellowship. We would work for a few hours in the evening and then just eat and visit. This was always made a priority and he and Babara loved it.

To all of you that knew him over the years, the friends, employees, customers, doctors, nurses, waiters and waitresses, HEB checkers and workers that helped him, you were appreciated and he talked about you often. You know who you are and THANK YOU. There are obviously too many to mention. We do want to mention two specifically. To Whitney and the entire Wound Care Staff…. Wow, what a difference you made for him in his last 3-4 years. Thank you for the personal relationship you built. You are angels. And to Dr. Kevin Gallagher. Thank you for all the extra time you spent with him doing things above and beyond your duty. Lyndon said again and again, 'he is a GREAT man" and we can't thank you enough.

If the world could only have more people with a positive personality like Lyndon. May his legacy not only be his family but an example to so many of how life can be lived and the impact you can have daily on people.

Visitation will be held on Wednesday, January 28th from 4 to 6 P.M. in the chapel of the Schaetter Funeral Home, Fredericksburg with a Rosary Service at 6 P.M.

The Mass of Resurrection will be held on Thursday, January 29th at 10:00 A.M. in the St. Mary's Catholic Church, Fredericskburg

Graveside services and interment will be held in the St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery

Memorial Contributions may be given to Optimist Club of Fredericksburg, St. Mary's Athletics, FHS Athletic Boosters, or to the charity of your choice.

Expressions of sympathy may be sent at www.schaetter.com

Funeral arrangements under the direction of the Schaetter Funeral Home