Walter Frederick Nemacheck

He was born to Elizabeth Ethel (Rosemurgy) & Walter Frederick Nemacheck on October 26, 1939, in Bessemer, MI, an iron mining town along Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He was the oldest of three boys and loved to send letters to various states’ tourism bureaus to collect maps to study. His family spent summers putting those maps to good use by taking trips, one of which brought them to Estes Park in the mid-1950s.

He was a 1957 graduate of Bessemer High School, where he played in the band and participated in ROTC. He attended school “downstate” at the University of Michigan. The trip to Ann Arbor required numerous trains through Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana – and lots of map reading! He began school as an Engineering major and transferred to the education school, graduating with a Bachelor’s in Education in 1962. He was a rabid Michigan football fan and was the student manager of the Michigan football team during his university tenure. He met his wife, Nancy, in Great Books, where they both were sitting with Michigan football players.

After graduation from Michigan, he attended Louisiana State University on a National Science Foundation scholarship for math. He graduated LSU in 1963 with his Master’s in Mathematics, and served as a Captain in the U.S. Army. He married Nancy in November 1963. Honorably discharged from the Army, he and Nancy moved to Waukegan, IL, where he taught high school math and science. There, he volunteered as a Junior Achievement mentor, choir member, church Treasurer, and ruling elder of the First Presbyterian Church.

He left teaching to work as an Industrial Engineer for U.S. Steel. In 1977, the family moved to Naperville, IL. He was Santa in the neighborhood Christmas parade, treasurer of the neighborhood association, a soccer referee, and treasurer of the Naperville Congregational Church for many years. Once the Joliet U.S. Steel plant closed, he worked as a controller for a small manufacturing company until his retirement.

Beginning in 1978, he and his family travelled annually to the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park. Each summer he could be found on any number of hiking trails (his favorite destination was a particular rock at Mills Lake), but don’t look for him on a horse! In 2000, he and Nancy purchased a house in Estes Park and commuted seasonally between Naperville and Estes Park until they moved full time to Estes Park in 2020.

In retirement, he continued hiking with a local hiking group. He volunteered for decades with college students at A Christian Ministry in the National Park (ACMNP), and for 14 years as a volunteer ranger at Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). After years of visiting YMCA of the Rockies and hiking through RMNP, volunteering as a ranger was the perfect opportunity to share his knowledge & passion!

He will be remembered by his sense of humor, huge smile, proclivity to assign a nickname to everything, delight in wearing his volunteer ranger uniform, vast collection of maps from his travels – and, most of all, pride in his family. He loved nothing more than to sit in his chair and talk to family about any subject.

In death, he leaves behind his wife of 60 years, Nancy (Smith) Nemacheck, brother Bill (Patti) Nemacheck of Marquette, MI, sister-in-law Diane (Bob) Butler of Estes Park and Anthem, AZ, two children, Elizabeth Nemacheck of Richmond, VA, and Bill Nemacheck of Iowa City, IA, two grandchildren, Ben Nemacheck of Iowa City, IA, and Drew Nemacheck of Eureka, MO, and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, brother Dave Nemacheck, and Dave’s wife Barb (Smith) Nemacheck of Gladstone, MI.

A celebration of life is planned on what would have been his 85th birthday, October 26, at 2pm at the Ponder Chapel at YMCA of the Rockies. In lieu of sending flowers, donations in his name may be made to the YMCA of the Rockies, Summit Church of Estes Park, or Rocky Mountain Conservancy.