Richard "Dick" Weisgerber

Richard “Dick”, David Weisgerber, age, 98, of St. Peter, MN passed away of heart failure on Tuesday, April 21, 2026 in his home surrounded by family.

A remembrance of Dick’s life will be held on Sunday, May 31, 2026, at the Red Men Club in St. Peter from 12 – 3.

Dick was born March 1, 1928 at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN to Ralph Henry Weisgerber and Pearl Dorothy (Johnson) Weisgerber. He was married to Cheryl Sue (Anderson) on August 20, 1970. They enjoyed 55 years of happy marriage. He is survived by wife, Cheryl, son Tom (Alita), granddaughters Montana and Morgan, nieces Ann Rahn (Rick) and Mary Elston, and many nieces and nephews on his wife’s side. Dick was preceded in death by his parents, and his older brother Jim and sister-in-law Rene (Covelle) Weisgerber.

When Dick was young, he contracted polio and survived although he was blind in his left eye the rest of his life. He graduated from St. Peter High School, where he enjoyed gymnastics and swimming. Dick loved swimming so much that when the municipal pool was built, he sneaked in with some friends the night before it was officially to open. He said he did it because it was there. He also went swimming at Gustavus on the Armistice Day blizzard of 1940 and had to walk part way home before getting a ride.

After graduating high school, Dick worked construction running a backhoe and digging basements and downtown sidewalks in St. Peter. He then attended and graduated from Gustavus Adolphus in St. Peter; then went to the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, with plans of becoming a doctor. He became disillusioned with the medical field and decided he wanted to teach instead. He attended the University of Iowa, Ames and later Mankato State University with degrees in the sciences and psychology. He taught all the sciences and math at Nicollet High School for four years, came to St. Peter for a year as a counsellor, and then went to teach sciences (physics, chemistry) and math (algebra, geometry) in Le Center for five years. In Le Center there was a need for someone to learn computer science so Dick volunteered. He earned a Masters Degree in Computer Science which led to his career at Mankato State University, and spanned 30 years.

Dick had many passionate hobbies including playing guitar for his own enjoyment as well as in bands. He was inspired to learn to play guitar when he listened to Andy Walsh on KSTP on the radio. His first guitar was a Gibson electric ES150, but traded it after 3 months for an ES300 which he kept for nine years. He played in a band with Sonny Decko, Earl Hanson and Gary Bonderson for a while. Later when Tom, his son, learned to fiddle, he accompanied him at contests which he enjoyed immensely. Dick admired Chet Atkins style of playing guitar.

Dick also liked racing and working on cars. He liked taking them apart and putting them back together in his Dad’s driveway. At 16, he purchased his first car which was a 1933 Chevy. Then came a 1929 Dodge, a 1931 Buick, and a 1929 Chrysler (his favorite due to how the exhaust sounded in 2nd gear). Later he also had 1956 and 1959 Pontiacs, and a 1967 Oldsmobile 442. He also loved dogs, and had a fierce compassion for the welfare of animals. He had eight collies over the course of his life, Ronnie, Lassie, Lad, Merlin, Chet, Wiley, Dandy, and Bailey.

Dick also served two terms on the St. Peter City Council in the 1980’s with his compadres Jim Tate and Pete Rheaume. Those were quite the meetings with the three of them presenting their views.

In addition to guitars and cars, Dick also loved to fly airplanes, being introduced to flying in 1938 at the local fair by Harry Nickel. He owned various planes, one being a WACO UPF7 till it was destroyed by a tornado. Dick met his wife Cheryl when she was interested in getting a plane ride. They were introduced by her brother Nookie Anderson. Dick also incorporated flying into some of his physics lessons with his students in Nicollet.

Dick had an insatiable curiosity of how things worked. He was a jack of many trades in addition to being an expert in his specialties He said he enjoyed hanging out with older people when he was young because he could learn from their experiences. He was a likeable guy fraternizing with people from all walks of life. He didn’t have a snob bone in his body. He made many life-long friends and touched the lives of many students and others. He liked to think he had a positive influence on his students making his classes interesting. But he said more than once that he learned more from his students than what he taught them. He loved his students. He was so quick witted, with a great sense of humor. He could relate to anyone. If someone complained of being ignored, he would say, well did you speak to them first? There will be a huge emptiness now that he has left us, but he’s enjoying himself with Pearl and Ralph and brother, Jim, his puppies, and the many friends who preceded him. May he rest in peace.