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Roger Erle Machmeier, 96, of Lindstrom, Minnesota, died at Lindstrom Senior Living on July 6, 2024.

Roger is preceded in death by his wife of 60 years Joretta Machmeier, sons Todd Louis Machmeier and Philip Machmeier, and sister, Judith Whelan. He is survived by his daughter Ann Machmeier; son Bruce (Lisa) Machmeier; daughter-in-law Deb Machmeier; and grandchildren Samantha Machmeier; Peter (Ashley) Machmeier; Elizabeth (Bennett) Machmeier; William Machmeier; and second wife Marlys Danielson. 

Roger’s funeral service will be held at 10 am Saturday, July 13, 2024, at Grandstrand Funeral Home in Lindstrom, MN. Interment is at Oak Park Cemetery in Mondovi, Wisconsin. Please direct donations to the DNR’s Minnesota Volunteer Magazine. 

Roger Machmeier lived long, and he lived joyfully. He wore many hats: teacher, musician, storyteller, outdoorsman, conservationist, mentor, family historian, traveler, the occasional fedora, among so many others. The man was a force. 

Roger was born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin at Luther Hospital in 1928 to Rufus and Emma Machmeier and grew up on the family farm in rural Mondovi, Wisconsin. Roger met his future wife, Joretta Gibson, at Mondovi High School in a true Hollywood “meet cute” by helping open her jammed locker. From that moment on, Joretta forever declared Roger to be her “knight in shining armor”. They married in 1952 at Zion Lutheran Church in Mondovi. 

Growing up on a Wisconsin dairy farm, Roger developed a passion for the science of agriculture and land conservation. After his graduation from Mondovi High School in 1947, he went on to attend the University of Minnesota and effectuated that passion by earning his degree in Agricultural Engineering in 1952.  After many years as a sales engineer for irrigation equipment and pumps, he accepted an offer to teach at the University of Minnesota.  He taught physics, surveying, hydrology soil mechanics, and erosion control. During his time teaching and conducting research at the university, he continued his own education, later earning his master’s degree in 1961 followed by this Ph.D. in 1966. Shortly after receiving his Ph.D., Roger joined the Agricultural Extension Service as an agricultural engineer, giving educational programs on sprinkler irrigation systems to help train dealers on the proper way to design their irrigation systems, new technology in the state at the time.

Roger was well respected and renowned in his field for his skill and expertise.  He devoted his life to teaching others and passing on the knowledge he spent years cultivating.  Roger was known by his colleagues as the “Answer Man” since he always managed to have a solution to any problem.  This nickname would follow him even into retirement. 

A former University of Minnesota Professor Emeritus and Minnesota Agricultural Extension agent, the findings of Dr. Roger E Machmeier’s decades-long research career proved instrumental to helping Minnesota address water quality issues in the early 1970’s while his advancements in waste-water treatment systems drew national acclaim.  He influenced legislation in the state of MN by assisting the state in addressing declining water quality in Minnesota lakes, chairing a 90-member committee appointed by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to write a state code for onsite sewage treatment systems. The code has since been revised and is now used by all Minnesota counties.

A program to update onsite sewage treatment systems, particularly on lakeshore property, was implemented across the state in 1971 with Machmeier playing an integral role in the plan’s execution. In his years with the Extension Service, he presented over 90 three-day workshops educating more than 5,000 county staff members and sewage contractors on the subject of correctly installing onsite sewage treatment systems. A longtime writer of water quality and onsite sewage treatment materials for the Extension Service, as well as author and co-author of over 30 technical papers, Machmeier expanded his writing talents in 1991 when he began penning articles on his profession for the Pumper Magazine, the trade publication of COLE Publishing.

Machmeier also developed the design for the “mound sewage treatment system” for individual septic tanks. He prepared plans for the design and installation of the mounds in Minnesota, constructed to protect the groundwater and surface waters in areas where other methods cannot be used. 

Machmeier retired from the U of M in 1988 as Professor Emeritus and former Extension Agricultural Engineer.  While his life’s work, at times, may not have been glamorous, in this “Land of 10,000 Lakes”, his legacy is the preservation of one of Minnesota’s most precious resources. 

Arrangements are by Grandstrand Funeral Home and Cremation Service in Lindstrom.  Condolences may be expressed online at www.grandstrandfh.com

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