John Hammitt Lacher

EDGEFIELD, SC - John Hammitt Lacher, age 82, died in Edgefield County on Wednesday, July 24, 2019. John was born in Madison, Tennessee on December 23, 1936 and was the eldest son of Jack Hammitt Lacher and Thelma Graham Lacher. Owing to his father’s job with the DuPont company he lived in multiple places as a child, Old Hickory, Tennessee; Newark, Delaware; Ranelagh, Argentina; Buffalo, New York; Wilmington, Delaware; Landenburg, Pennsylvania and Aiken, South Carolina. He attended Southern Technical School in Chamblee, Georgia and then enlisted in the Navy. After working briefly at the Savannah River Plant, he drove to Denver with his new bride, Sally White whom he married on August 4, 1964. There John was trained by United Airlines. He worked as a pilot for that company until his retirement as a captain in 1994 with thirty years and ten days service. Blessed with a photographic mind, he was always drawn to mechanical things, maintaining a life-long interest in railroads, many airplanes, automobiles, and sailboats. He made countless trips in the US and overseas to pursue his interest in steam powered locomotives. He was facile in his second language, Spanish, and was an excellent horseman, two skills learned as a boy in Argentina. In addition to his parents, John was preceded in death by his son Charles and his sister Margaret Reilly (Robert). He leaves behind his wife, Sally, a brother, Scott (Anna), two nephews, David and Peter (Jezabel) and two great nephews Maddox and Lennox and two nieces Rachel West and Chelsea Reilly. In addition, he leaves his brother-in-law Johnny White (Lynda) and two nieces, Susan Treadaway and Alison Ibsen (William). After retiring in the mid 1990s, he and Sally lived at Twin Lakes airport near Graniteville where they made many of their best friends. The family is indeed grateful for John’s many friends who visited with him during his final illness. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to a charity on one’s choice. A memorial service will be held 11:00 AM Friday, August 2, 2019 at Shellhouse Funeral Home with Deacon Don Owen officiating. The family will receive friends following the service. Interment will be private. SHELLHOUSE FUNERAL HOME, INC., 924 HAYNE AVE., AIKEN, SC 29801 To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of John Hammitt Lacher, please visit our flower store.