John Buchner

John Charles Buchner, 63, of rural Fergus Falls, died Tuesday January 11, 2011, at the Lake Region Hospital, Fergus Falls. He was born June 12, 1947, in LaPorte, Indiana, the son of Harold and Phyllis Buchner. He graduated from LaPorte High School in 1964. John entered the military in 1966, receiving his basic training with the 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg. Assigned to the 101st he served with C Company 4th battalion, the 503 Paratroop Infantry Regiment, and the 173rd Mortar Platoon in Vietnam from 1967 through 1968 and was awarded the Silver Star and the Bronze Star. Discharged from the Army in 1972, he and his wife Sue, son David, and daughter Elizabeth moved from Indiana to Osage, Minnesota. In 1974 John began his career as a licensed pipefitter with Wrigley Mechanical in Fargo, North Dakota. In 1989 he became a High Pressure Piping Inspector for the State of Minnesota, Department of Labor and Industry in St. Paul, Minnesota. He later became Chief High Pressure Piping Inspector in 1999, and retired in 2002. John and Cheryl (Sieling) were married on July 17, 1987. Along with Cheryl's children, Bob Borchers and Sandi Budke (Borchers) they enjoyed raising Morgan horses and hosting the annual Prairie Pot Hole Fly-In for fellow powered parachute enthusiasts at their hobby farm south of Fergus Falls. He was a member of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 126, the Carsonville Volunteer Fire Department in Osage, MN, a life member of V.F.W. Post 612 in Fergus Falls, and a member of the Sheriff's Posse in Fergus Falls. Preceding him in death were his parents, Harold and Phyllis Buchner. Survivors include his wife, Cheryl, of Fergus Falls; brothers Phillip and Bill; sisters Kathleen, Juli, Betsy, and Susie; children: David (Stephanie) Buchner and their daughter, Clara, of Osage, and Elizabeth Henderson of Richfield, MN, and her children, Lucas and Meredith; his step-children: Sandi (Scott) Budke of Fergus Falls and her children Bailey and Brooke, and Bob (Jody) Borchers of Elizabeth and their daughter Aubry; his mother-in-law, Fran Sieling of Fergus Falls; and numerous nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews, and friends. Visitation: 12 p.m. - 2 p.m. Thursday at the church Service: 2 p.m. Thursday, January 20, 2011 at Hope Lutheran Church in Fergus Falls Clergy: Reverend Jon B. Olson Interment: Knollwood Memorial Gardens in Fergus Falls Military Participation by the Fergus Falls VFW and American Legion Funeral Home: Olson Funeral Home in Fergus Falls