Robert M. Lelacheur

Robert M. LeLacheur, of Wyomissing, age 90, passed away in the Columbia Cottage, Spring Township on Monday, June 27, 2011 of complications of Parkinson's disease. He is survived by his beloved wife, Janet.

He was the son of the late Garnet and Margaret White (McFarland) LeLacheur.

Robert spent most of his professional life with the Western Electric Company. He was Manager of Development and Manufacturing Engineering at the Reading plant from 1966 until his retirement in 1983. Prior to that, he was Director of Process Research and Development in Princeton New Jersey and Assistant Manager of Engineering in Reading with Western Electric. His previous work included Bell Telephone Laboratories and the National Research Council of Canada.

Born in Ottawa Ontario, Canada, and raised both in Ottawa and in Sackville, New Brunswick. He served in the Royal Canadian Navy during WWII after completing his B.Sc. in Physics at Mt. Allison University in New Brunswick. After the war he completed a M.Sc. in Physics at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia in 1947 and a Ph.D. in Physics at the University of Virginia in 1949. He pursued additional education in business and management at the Harvard Business School in 1964 and Carnegie Melon in 1978.

An accomplished scientist and manager, Robert most enjoyed his interactions with his fellow workers. Both before and after his retirement from the business world, Robert was active in the community. He served on the boards of the Wyomissing Library and the Reading Museum. He volunteered for many years at the Gruber Wagon Works and assisting senior citizens with their tax returns. Throughout his life he loved to work with his hands, creating everything from homemade stereo systems to caned chairs. He also loved to travel, traversing the globe as well as the nation.

Robert had an insatiable interest in the workings of the world around him, from the tiniest subatomic particle to the vast universe. While his bright and engaging intellect will be missed, the things about Robert LeLacheur that will be best remembered are his ready smile and his warm and open heart.

Other survivors include and his four children, Bruce, Susan, Joan and Patricia LeLacheur. Through his second marriage to Janet McKemy in 1992 he gained two stepchildren, Harold McKemy and Leigh Graff, and four grandchildren, Margaret and Elle McKemy and Matthew and Hailey Graff.

Services will be held Thursday at 10:00 am in Bausman Memorial United Church of Christ, 1064 Penn Ave, Wyomissing. A visitation will be held Thursday from 9:00 am until time of services in the church. Burial will be in Charles Evans Cemetery, Reading.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Parkinson's Disease Foundation, 1359 Broadway, Suite 1509, New York, NY 10018; Bausman Memorial United Church of Christ, 1064 Penn Avenue, Wyomissing, PA, 19610; National Multiple Sclerosis Society, 1100 New York Avenue, NW, Suite 660, Washington, DC, 20005 or Life Choice Hospice, 200 Dryden Road, Suite 3300, Dresher, PA 19025.

Edward J. Kuhn Funeral Home, Inc., West Reading is in charge of arrangements. For online condolences, visit www.kuhnfuneralhome.com