Michael Horcher

of Wheeling, IL

Michael Horcher, 89, was born April 30, 1934, and died March 16, 2024. He was the son of Michael and Elizabeth (nee Heiderschiedt) Horcher and the fourth generation on his family farm founded in 1848.

Mike grew up in his ancestral home built in 1863. The home didn't have plumbing or electricity until his adolescence. He attended St. Mary's Parish Grade School and Arlington Heights High School. When he was 18, Mike was drafted into the Army. He was a Marksman and ultimately served on a Nike missile base.

At 25, he married Bernadine "Bernie" Seidl. Mike, with the help of family, built the couple's home on the family farm. In that home, Mike and Bernie raised six sons.

Throughout Mike's life, he witnessed the evolution of farming. As a child, he farmed with horses. He adapted as horse-pulled machinery became manual transmission tractors with no safety guards or protection from the weather. The last tractor he climbed out of had a heated and air-conditioned cab, was computer-controlled, and satellite-guided. He and his father milked cows by hand until he got an electric milking machine. He raised dairy and beef cattle, pigs, and chickens.

He worked on the family farm first with his father and later with his sons. He grew grains for the livestock until transitioning to vegetable production in the 1970s. Eventually, the Horcher Farm sold produce at 14 farmers' markets across several cities and established Horchers Country Flowers. Vegetable production continues on the family farm today as does the greenhouse operation that was started for the vegetable plants.

Aside from working on the family farm, after his marriage, Mike worked at Ecko Alcoa in Wheeling, worked construction with his father-in-law, and was a computer operator at Fiat-Allis / Allis Chalmers in Deerfield from the late 1960s until the mid-1980s. During his time at Fiat-Allis, he watched firsthand as computers evolved from keypunch memory to today's microchip processors. He then worked at a machining factory until finally retiring from employment off the farm.

Mike was elected to 2 terms as a Village of Wheeling Trustee, serving 8 years altogether. He was a Director on the Cook County Farm Bureau for 28 years. He also served as an Usher at St. Joseph the Worker church.

In 2015 Mike underwent heart surgery that developed complications that impacted his quality of life from that point forward. He still went out of the house to check on farm operations until a month before finally passing this March.

Michael Horcher's life was his family and his farm. He served his country and community in an exemplary manner. He will be missed, but his influence and impact on others will be long remembered.

Michael is survived by his wife Bernadine (nee Seidl) Horcher; his sons Michael (Partner Lynn Thompson), Patrick (Stacey), Timothy (Heather), Darrell (Fayleen), Christopher (Hanne); and James (Partner Jennifer Theesfeld) Horcher; his grandchildren and great grandchildren.

He is preceded in death by his daughter Gina; his parents; and his daughter-in-law, Stacy.

Visitation will be from 2:00 pm until 7:00 pm Sunday, March 24, 2024, at Glueckert Funeral Home, Ltd., 1520 N. Arlington Heights Rd., Arlington Heights, IL 60004. Funeral Service 11:00 am, Monday, March 25, 2024, at Horcher's Farm, 910 McHenry Road, Wheeling, IL. Interment following at St. Mary Parish Cemetery, Buffalo Grove, IL.

Funeral Information and condolences can be given at www.GlueckertFuneralHome.com or (847) 253-0168.