Jeffrey Wagenbach passed on December 16 at the age of 52 after battling pancreatic cancer. Born on October 10, 1964 to John and Barbara Wagenbach (Davis), he was preceded in death by his parents, his sister Monika, maternal and paternal grandparents and uncle Henry.
He is survived by his wife Melissa, son Jacob, brothers John and Joseph, and sister Bridget, nieces Holly Vanover (Trint) and Devon, nephews Joshua and Christopher, aunts Maria Ball (Jim) and Judy Drake, uncle Adam (Kathleen), a grand niece and a grand nephew and many cousins.
Jeff grew up in Huber Heights, graduating from Wayne High School in 1983.
After high school, he enlisted in the Army, serving overseas and in the U.S. He received an honorable discharge in 1987 as a Specialist 4 after being awarded an Army Good Conduct Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Expert Marksmanship Medal and the Army Long Tour Service Medal. He then joined the Air Force Reserves, serving from 1988 to 1994 as an Avionics Specialist. In 1994 he joined the Air National Guard (ANG) as a satellite communications specialist with the rank of Technical Sergeant and served until 1998.
There he supported the Ohio Governor's Office and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) on various activations. After his active duty service in the Army, he was self-employed for many years, providing services to electronic equipment manufacturers.
During his career, he was also employed by the Air Force Research Laboratory, Grimes Aerospace and most recently, by Motoman Robotics.
Jeff was a loving husband and father and was especially devoted to his teenage son. He spent most of his spare time helping Jacob in small and large ways with his schooling. Jeff also loved learning about space and the universe thru reading, on line courses and websites.
He was a big science fiction fan and loved all Star Trek shows. And he really enjoyed debating politics with his best friend Patrick. His hobbies included being an avid baseball fan (especially supporting the Reds), all kinds of reading, and doing things like bowling, playing cards and watching movies with his family, especially with Jacob.
After the army and while at Sinclair College, he delivered pizzas. He was recognized as the pizza delivery person of the month, entitling him to a month's worth of pizzas. As a pizza lover, he always said that was one of his career highlights!
As a life-long learner, Jeff was taking classes at Sinclair when he recently became sick and was very close to achieving his goal of a degree in electronics.
Jeff was a kind person, always friendly and supportive, but also could be very stubborn once he made up his mind about something. He will be missed by his family and friends.
Services will be on Tuesday, January 3, 2017. Visitation at Routsong Funeral Home, 2100 E. Stroop Rd., Kettering 45429, from 1 to 2pm, with a memorial service at 2pm. Burial of Jeff's ashes will be at 3:45pm at Bethel Cemetery (5757-5999 Phillipsburg Union Rd. at N. Diamond Mill Rd.), Phillipsburg 45322, with a short grave site service, including an honor guard flag and taps ceremony. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Cancer Society, 2808 Reading Road, Cincinnati, OH 45206.
Funeral Home:
Kettering Routsong Funeral Home
2100 E. Stroop Rd.
Kettering, OH
US 45429
Tuesday, January 3, 2017
1:00 - 2:00 pm (Eastern time)
Routsong Funeral Home & Cremation Services - Kettering
Tuesday, January 3, 2017
Starts at 2:00 pm (Eastern time)
Routsong Funeral Home & Cremation Services - Kettering
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