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Cornelius, NC—Colonel Fechner, 67, left on his journey to heaven on Wednesday, January 13, 2010 from the Levine-Dickson Hospice House in Huntersville.

Colonel Fechner—also known as “Sweetheart,” “Chief,” “Daddy” and “Padre”—was born in Memphis, TN, the first-born child of Margaret Collier Blondheim and the late Colonel Walter Wallace Fechner, on May 2, 1942. He began traveling the world as an “Army Brat” and followed in his father’s footsteps as a career Army officer. He served in the ROTC at Kansas State University, and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Medical Service Corps upon graduation in June 1964. He earned a Masters Degree in Health Care Administration from Baylor University in Texas.

His life was one of service to his country and community. During his 30-year Army career, he became a Green Beret and Master Parachutist; served in the Vietnam War; taught classes at Fort Sam Houston, TX; commanded the 86th Combat Support Hospital at Fort Campbell, KY; served as Brigade Commander/Assoc. Dean for Administration at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences in Bethesda, MD. He spent 18 years of his 30-year military career in health care administration, with assignments at military hospitals in Monterey, CA; San Francisco, CA; Frankfurt, Germany; and culminating as Deputy Commander/Chief of Staff at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

In June 1994 Colonel Fechner retired from the Army. He was always a super patriot and took such pride in his service to his country and his opportunity to motivate and inspire young officers and soldiers. He was a consummate leader and took his greatest satisfaction from seeing the successes of those he mentored and with whom he had served.

Although Colonel Fechner became “Mr.” Fechner in 1994, his life of service never skipped a beat. He accepted a job with the American Red Cross, Carolinas Blood Services Region, and continued his mission of leading and motivating his staff and colleagues to set new records for blood collection services in the largest blood region in the United States. In 2001 he became Chief Executive Officer. The region led Biomedical Services in whole blood collections from July 1995 and set a new record for a Red Cross blood region in 2007, collecting 404,854 units of whole blood. The Red Cross family became his own during his 15-year career.

Bob Fechner is survived by Julie, his beloved wife of 42 years; his two adored daughters, Debbi Lechner and her husband Albert of Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, and Kristen Gil and her husband, Richard of San Francisco, CA; and his precious grandchildren, Jack and Kelsey Lechner, ages 9 and 8; and Gabriel and Elizabeth Gil, ages 2 1/2 and10 months. Even though his daughters and their families live in other states, the families have all been together for every Christmas for 42 years.

Bob is also survived by his ever-supportive mother Margaret, age 87, and by his 2 sisters, Marlie Galer and Dottie Boeving, and by his 2 brothers, Doug and Ken.

A Celebration of Life service will be held on Saturday, January 23 at 2:00 P.M. at the First Baptist Church of Charlotte, 301 South Davidson St., Charlotte, NC.

Memorial gifts may be made to Lake Norman Free Clinic, 14230 Hunters Rd., Huntersville, NC 28078 or to Levine-Dickson Hospice House, 11900 Vanstory Dr., Huntersville, NC 28078 or to the American Red Cross.