Michael ‘Mike’ Bechtel, 50, of Boone and formerly of Ames, died Oct. 7, 2013, at his home. Classmates who knew Mike reported that he died of heart failure.

Mike was born in Des Moines on Jan. 9, 1963, the son of Richard and Alice (Brice) Bechtel. He grew up in Ames and graduated from Ames High School in 1981 and then attended Dunwoody Technical Institute in Minneapolis. On Jan. 12, 2007, Mike married Sindee (Saunders) Nash in Jefferson. Since November 1996, Mike was employed by Fareway Stores Inc. as a truck driver. He enjoyed working on old Mopar vehicles with his lifelong friend, Mike Vander Gaast, who owns a repair shop in Ames.

Mike is survived by his wife, Sindee (Nash) Bechtel, of Boone; three stepdaughters, Molly Nash, of Boone, and Beth and Kelly, both of Marshalltown; his mother, Alice Lowe, of Ames; one sister, Jana (Bechtel) Taylor and fiancé, Mike Louis, of Ames; a stepbrother, Robert D. Lowe and wife, Kathy, of Des Moines; three step-grandchildren, Nathan, Ryan and Kalven; his foster son, Chris Carr, of Florida; aunts and uncles, Edward and Charlene Brice, of Boone, Earl ‘Hap’ and Sue Brice, of Hutchinson, Minn., Robert and Linda Brice, and Patricia Brice (whom Mike considered a second mother), all of Des Moines, Don and Gale Brice, of Ames, Tom Brice, of Iowa City; and a special nephew, Travis Taylor, of Des Moines and his fiancée, Courtney Yeazel. Also surviving are many other relatives and friends.

Mike was preceded in death by his father, Richard; and his stepfather, Robert Lowe.