Wanda Murl Bechtel

Wanda Murl Bechtel, nee Varnadore passed away on May 11, 2026, at the age of 94, one month before her 95th birthday. Wanda was born in Buffalo Gap, TX to Tugalo L. and Vista (White) Varnadore. She was the fourth of five daughters and was very close with all her sisters. She graduated in 1948 from Wylie High School, Wylie, TX. She married A.B. Reagan Jr in January 1949 at the age of 17. They had two children, Jane (1950) and Tom (1952). In 1982, she married Ralph Bechtel, who was her Prince Charming and treated her like a queen. She and Ralph had some wonderful times until he passed away in 1983.

Wanda was a devoted mother to her children and a loving grandmother and great grandmother. She was a homemaker and stay-at-home mom until the 60’s when she worked in housekeeping at a local hotel in Yuba City, California, then in the Dietary Department of Little Company of Mary Hospital and Baldwin Hills Hospital in the Los Angeles area. She was an excellent seamstress and made many outfits for her children during their childhood. Wanda and her sister Billie taught Jane to sew, and Jane uses her sewing skills for her family and friends.

After her son, Tom, passed away in 1990, Wanda devoted her time and energy to helping Tom’s daughter Jennifer, who was 7 years old at the time. Jane and her family visited California often to see them. Every Easter, we would go to church, then to breakfast and then Disneyland. Wanda wasn’t a big fan of Disneyland but still always came along for the ride. The rides she liked were Pirates of the Caribbean and It’s a Small World. There are so many stories of visits with family, loads of fun in California and trips with Jane to Buffalo Gap, Houston and Las Vegas.

Wanda lived in California until 2018, when she moved to Arizona and resided with Jennifer and her family in Sun City, AZ. In 2020, Wanda moved to Western Springs, IL to live with Jane and her son-in-law John McCarty. In 2024, she moved to Cordia Senior Living, which provided her with extra care.

Wanda was preceded in death by her parents Tugalo and Vista Varnadore, her sisters Helen Lou Varnadore, Josephine Clary, and Banie Stockton, her niece Jimmie (Stockton) Graham and Susie Stockton, her nephew Randal Clary and her son Tom Reagan. She is survived by her daughter Jane (Reagan) McCarty and son-in-law John McCarty, her granddaughters Jennifer Reagan, Kathleen (McCarty) Malham and Robert Malham and Margaret (McCarty) Furry and Kyle Furry and her eight great grandchildren, Kaden Reagan, Kensington Reagan, Molly Malham, Abigail Malham, Lillian Malham, Robert Malham Jr., Joseph Furry and Vivian Furry. Wanda is also survived by her sister Billie Dale (Varnadore) Garcia and brother-in-law Julian Garcia as well as her nieces, Debbie Garcia Perry and Marsha Clary Null and her nephew Bill Garcia.

Memorial Visitation will be held at Chapel Hill Gardens West Funeral Home, 17w201 Roosevelt Road, Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181, on Thursday, June 11, from 9:00 am to 11:00 am. Funeral Prayer Service to follow at 11:00 am also at the Funeral Home. Interment private.