Community Corner

Eagan Resident Ted Wachter Leaves Legacy of Public Service

Wachter served on the Eagan City Council from its first meeting in 1974 until his retirement in 1998. He died in March.

Ted Wachter, who died in March at the age of 89, was a major figure in the history of Eagan, shaping it through his 41 years of public service and preserving it through his work at the Eagan Historical Society.

"Ted had an institutional historical knowledge of the community that he was able to draw upon so well for many, many years," Dakota County Commissioner Tom Egan told the Pioneer Press.

When Eagan was incorporated as a city in 1974, Wachter was elected to its city council's freshman class, but he had already spent 15 years thinking about Eagan as a member of the Eagan Township advisory planning board and village council.

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"He was [an] initial city of Eagan leader," said Egan, a former city council member and mayor. "He bridged the time when Eagan was kind of a sleepy township all the way up the time when Eagan transcended to become the fastest-growing city in the state."

Wachter worked as a farmer and contractor before starting a home-building business.

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From the late '80s through the early '00s, served as chair of the Eagan Historical Society.

"He was the keeper of Eagan history better than anyone," Eagan Communications Coordinator Joanna Foote told the Pioneer Press. "He was a kind and gentle soul who would tell stories and share history of the city with a twinkle in his eyes."

Services were held for Wachter on Saturday, April 13 at Christ Lutheran Church in Eagan.

The Pioneer Press has more about Wachter's legacy.


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