Hansel B. Gotcher

Hansel was born August 23, 1962 in Jacinto City to James Gotcher and Carolyn Waldrum.

He attended Ross S. Sterling High School in Baytown and graduated from Pasadena High School. He later continued his education at the University of Houston, graduating in 1997 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering.

He devoted much of his time and energy working to provide for his family. One of his favorite things to say to his children was “Work makes the rest of your life possible”.

Hansel first began work at the age of 13 bussing tables at a café owned by family. He went into construction at 17 working his way from welder to Project Manager at Austin Industries. He also was fortunate enough to work in Wyoming for a time and thoroughly enjoyed the remote areas of the wilderness. He then worked as a Mechanical Engineer for S & B Engineers for over a decade.

Hansel’s favorite sport was baseball and he spent 10 years with family going to every major league baseball stadium in America and Canada (there were 30!) He loved planning these trips with his brother-in-law Mark and was even able to attend games in 5 different stadiums in 9 days. One memorable trip took 2 weeks and the families were able to visit 9 National Parks including Estes, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Glacier National Park, Mount Rainer, Crater Lake, the Redwoods, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon. These trips were taken in either two cars or a 15- passenger van. That’s a lot of family time!!

Nolan Ryan was his favorite player, so much so that his son’s middle name is “Ryan” and his daughter’s middle name is “Shea”.

Hansel is survived by his wife of 35 years, Karen Gotcher; his children Benjamin and Tara; sisters Angela Bradshaw and Marcie Bogdon; brothers Joshua Walker and Brent Gotcher; and several nieces and nephews.

Hansel is preceded in death by his father and mother.