John Schlachter

John Schlachter, Jr., age 73, of Wayne, passed away peacefully on Saturday, June 11, 2022 while in the presence of his loving family.

The first-born son of John and Anna (Tom) Schlachter, John was born in Kempten, (suburb of Munich) Germany and lived there for just one year before emigrating to the United States. His family settled in Clifton where John was raised. He was an altar boy at St. Brendan’s church in Clifton and a Herald-News newspaper carrier for 4 years. He played freshman basketball and 2 years of varsity football at Clifton High School where he ultimately graduated with the Class of 1967. He enlisted in the US Army Reserves for 6 years as a company clerk, completing his basic training in Kentucky. Back home in Clifton, John attended Fairleigh Dickinson University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Management. After college, John joined his father in the family plumbing business, Schlachter and Sons Plumbing Contractors.

48 years ago, John met Barbara McBride, and they married on Friday, August 10, 1984. The wedding took place on a slightly cloudy day in the back yard of Barbara’s family’s home in Wayne. John and Barbara lived for a couple of years in Clifton before moving to Wayne in 1986 where they have remained to the present.

The blessing of three daughters, Laurie, Jessica, and Amy soon arrived and John could not have been more thrilled. He was the ultimate girl dad. Like any good father, he did his best to provide for his family, working every day with his own father in the plumbing business. Meanwhile, his spare time was filled with living the best life he could think of with his family. Memories were made through multiple visits to Disney World, down the shore in Ocean City, and even a family trip to Germany to visit John’s extended family. Thank goodness for Barbara and the girls, John’s parents taught him the German language as a young boy. John’s interpretation skills came in handy on that vacation!

Being a fan himself, John instilled a love of sports in his daughters from a very young age. He proudly served as their coach when they played in the Christian Youth Organization (CYO) Basketball League and, when they played in the Wayne PAL League, he sometimes drove the van to bring the team to away games. Eventually the girls began playing on traveling teams. John never missed any of their games, even the championship games in Nevada and Florida. Sometimes his whole day was taken watching Laurie’s game in the morning, Jessica’s game after that, and Amy’s after that, and for John that was a day well spent. He was always their greatest fan, doing his best to give them pointers and always cheering them on. One of John’s proudest moments was when all three of his daughters were on the basketball court at the same time for a regular season varsity game at Wayne Valley High School. He enthusiastically cut all their articles and box scores out of the newspaper and kept a scrap book for each one of them.

In 1993, John left full-time work in the family business to take a job as head plumbing supervisor for St. Joseph’s Hospital in Paterson. He remained in that that position for thirteen years until 2006 when he went to work as a facilities manager for Cedar Crest Village in Pompton Plains. After fourteen years at Cedar Crest, John retired fully in 2020. In his spare time, he was always available and more than willing to help family and friends.

John’s leisure time was mostly spent on two of his greatest passions, working in his yard and following his beloved New York Yankees and New York Giants. John’s yard was for him, his little piece of paradise. He took great pride in a nice lawn and gardens adorned with beautiful flowers. Every spring he was out there planting his annuals. Then, for the cost of just a little bit of daily maintenance, he got to enjoy their beauty throughout the summer. John’s love of his yard was closely matched by his love of the Yankees. He hardly ever missed a game on television and to honor their dad, his daughters established a fun tradition of taking him to a game at Yankee Stadium every year as a Father’s Day gift. It was a special tradition for just John and his girls. John’s all-time favorite Yankee player was number 15, Thurman Munson and probably his biggest thrill was being present at the games when Yankee greats Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter retired. John was also a big Giants fan. If you were looking for him on a Sunday afternoon, you could be confident that you’d find him at home watching the game. Through the good years and, more recently, the bad years, John always remained a devoted fan.

Throughout his entire life, John enjoyed animals. From the young age of 8, he spent most of his summers on his grandfather’s chicken farm in Flemington, NJ, helping to take care of 6,000 chickens, pigs, cows and horses. They would even let him drive the tractor. Throughout his entire life he always had rabbits, Albert, Lucky and Gibbs being his favorites, and in his twenty’s, he had a golden retriever named Rusty and a mixed breed named Daisy when the girls were growing up.

In the end, faith and family were the hallmarks of John’s life. A faithful parishioner at Our Lady of the Valley R.C. Church in Wayne, John was always present at the 8 AM mass on Sundays, and he considered his Catholic life to be of foundational importance. Next to his wife and his daughters and sons in laws, John’s four grandchildren were his greatest treasures. As their “Opa”, it’s no exaggeration that he visited them daily and was always ready to fix their toys or to read them a story. He was given the nickname “Baby Holder” because when frequently called upon, he was always more than happy to oblige.

John was a dearly loved husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle and friend. Mixing a keen intellect with his mild-mannered kindness, John was so supportive and always willing to lend a hand. He was a great mentor for his daughters and grandchildren and they considered him the greatest Dad and Opa. He was a genuinely good person who enjoyed a good conversation and spending quality time with those he knew and loved. He never complained during his recent years of health challenges and, no matter how bad he was feeling, he would always say that others had it worse. Know you were so incredibly loved John!  The loss is immeasurable but so is the love left behind.

John was the beloved and devoted husband of Barbara (McBride) Schlachter, blessed in marriage for 37 years; extremely loved father of: Laurie and husband Austin Holman of Clifton, Jessica Schlachter of Wayne, and Amy and husband Christopher Gnida of Oakland:  cherished grandfather of Kennedy and Cameron Holman, and Nicholas and Ryan Gnida; dear older brother of Anthony and wife Denise Schlachter of Wayne; and dear uncle of numerous nieces and nephews.

Those planning an expression of sympathy in John’s name are asked to consider:

American Cancer Society

P.O. Box 22478

Oklahoma City, OK 73123

Click here to download the mail in form

You can also donate by calling 800-227-2345