Obituary of Robert H Schacht

Robert "Bob" Schacht, 92, died peacefully August 7, 2012. He was born May 20, 1920 in Irvington, New Jersey. In 1937 Mr. Schacht began his long, varied and satisfying career with the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, broken only by his service as a tech sergeant in the Army during World War II Upon his discharge in 1946, Mr. Schacht worked with New England Life which later was acquired by Met Life. He earned his Certified Life Underwriter designation and managed general agencies in Toledo, Ohio and Newark, New Jersey. He later worked with the company in the field of financial planning until his retirement in 2011. Mr. Schacht's full and active life included many interests. His enjoyment of music and the trumpet began in high school, which led to meeting his wife of 67 years, fellow trumpet player Ethel Gerlach. Upon graduation from Irvington High School he spent weekends playing in the Vic Rose Big Band. In 1946 Mr. Schacht became a charter member of the Maplewood Glee Club. He was active with the Boy Scouts, the New Jersey American Quarter Horse Association, Atlas Pythagoras Masonic Lodge of Westfield, Summit Old Guard and the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church where he served as a trustee and elder in his membership there of over 50 years. He took great pleasure in riding horseback and gardening in the Somerset Hills where he was a resident of Bernardsville for over 42 years before moving to Watchung in 2003. His host of friends, old and new alike, will fondly remember him for his gregarious, upbeat and friendly nature. Predeceased by his wife Ethel in 2009, Mr. Schacht is survived by his daughter, Susan Hagaman and her husband, Carter, of Maplewood; his son, Allen and his wife, Carol, of Pittsford, N.Y. and Bernardsville; granddaughters Lorrie Gunn of Rochester Hills, Mich., and Cynthia Helms of Centennial, Colo.; great-grandchildren Thomas and Phineas French, Brynna Gunn and Fox and Shafer Helms; his sister, Marie Buss, of Delray Beach, Fla.; sister-in-law Mary Gerlach, of Summit; and longtime boyhood friend Sanford Williams, Indianapolis, Ind. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, August 26, at the Presbyterian Church of Basking Ridge, followed by interment in the church's memorial garden. Arrangements are by the Gallaway and Crane Funeral Home in Basking Ridge. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be sent to the Presbyterian Church of Basking Ridge, 1 E. Oak Street, Basking Ridge, NJ., 07920.