Trueit LeRoy Schwerdtfeger

Trueit LeRoy Schwerdtfeger, 90, a retired engineer, of Las Vegas, passed away late afternoon on July 6 due to respiratory failure. He was born November 5, 1922 in Evansville, Indiana and has been a resident of Las Vegas since 1963. Preceded in his death was his wife of 65 years, Erma Jean of Las Vegas; son Trueit, Jr. of North Las Vegas. He is survived by his son, Temme, of Las Vegas; two granddaughters Tina Schwerdtfeger –Torres and Julie Schwerdtfeger of Las Vegas; grandson Shawn Schwerdtfeger of Las Vegas and several great grandchildren. The ‘ Ironman of Hotel Engineering’, he loved every aspect of his job at the Sands Hotel from 1963 -1993 and his proudest accomplishment was an incredible perfect attendance record. He had seen and met a few of the great celebrities of yesteryear which included members of the Ratpack, Elvis, the Beetles but his favorite was Red Skelton of which he knew quite well and would often reminisce about their younger days in Southern Indiana where he worked at Edgewood Dairy as a foreman for 6 years. Trueit eventually became the Director of Facilities which he would tell as his proudest accomplishment and worked until he was 70. Trueit went into engineering during WWII where he operated heavy equipment for 8 months in the Pacific Theater while with the 1296 Engineers Combat Battalion. He drove bulldozers and other such allied equipment for purposes of road and building construction and performed minor maintenance on bodies and engines as well as servicing and lubricating the machines. He received 4 decorations. Trueit married Erma Jean Tite in 1947 and they were inseparable for 65 years. Trueit was an ‘out of the box’ thinker his entire life. With tools, he was an absolute genius, whether building his own house in Evansville to making a ‘noise maker’ so he could sleep in the day time. Trueit will be remembered as the man he could fix or make anything. Viewing will be held at Palm Mortuary located at 1600 S. Jones on Monday from 3- 5:30 pm. Services will be on Tuesday at Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial in Boulder City from 12 to 12: 40 p.m. Arrangements under the direction of Palm South Jones Mortuary, Las Vegas, NV.