William Wesley Wachtel

A memorial service for William Wesley Wachtel, 78, of Spring Hope, will be held at Gibson Memorial United Methodist Church on Thursday, Dec. 29 at 2 p.m., followed by a reception in the fellowship hall. He died at home on Dec. 22, 2022 after a courageous fight against cancer. The son of Jean Lassiter Wachtel and Martin Luther Wachtel, Jr. of Spring Hope, he was born in Dallas, Tex., on Jan. 3, 1944 while his father was in service and moved to Spring Hope at age three. He attended Spring Hope Elementary School and graduated from Spring Hope High School in 1962. He then went on to get his undergraduate degree from N.C. State in 1967 and an MBA degree from the University of Georgia in 1972. He was a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from 1967-1970, serving in Vietnam and winning a Bronze Star. He was involved for many years in the banking industry, working for Peoples Bank in Rocky Mount, BB&T in Wilson, and for the Resolution Trust Corporation, a government agency. In his final years he was a real estate broker with Brent Bass & Associates. A man of immense faith, Wes was a Sunday School teacher and leader at Gibson Memorial United Methodist Church. He was also an active Gideon, distributing Bibles, and deeply involved in prison ministry. He was a longtime volunteer both at Caledonia and Nash correctional institutions. At NCI, he was a founding member and secretary for years of the Community Resource Council and a weekly volunteer for Disciple Bible Outreach Ministries and Yokefellow Prison Ministry. Surviving are his wife, Cecelia Dudley Wachtel; son, Nicholas Dudley Wachtel; brother, Martin Luther Wachtel III (Marianne); sister, Catherine Lassiter Wachtel Bass (Edward); sisters-in-law Lynell Dudley Fleming and Frances Dudley O’Brien (John); granddaughter Kendell Cannon Wachtel; and many nieces and nephews and great-nieces and great-nephews. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Cornerstone Funeral Home in Nashville. Instead of flowers, the family suggests donations may be made to Gideons International, P.O. Box 485, Nashville, NC 27856; Gibson Memorial UMC, P.O. Box 770, Spring Hope 27882; or Hospice and Palliative Care of Nash General Hospital, 2460 Curtis Ellis Drive, Rocky Mount, 27804.

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William Wesley Wachtel

January 3, 1944 - December 22, 2022