Biography
Officer Jon Wacha graduated from the Iowa Police Academy in 1994. He absolutely loved being a police officer and he was good at it. He loved investigating crimes and solving them, but he did not like the “babysitting” part of it. “Wacha-gotcha” was a term of endearment commonly used for him. When he was not working, Jon loved to create memories, laughs, and love with his friends and family. Jon loved to laugh and joke with anyone, it was not very often he was serious. He loved to clean his truck (Precious), mow the lawn, farm, deer hunt, and anything to do with NASCAR. Jon didn’t know a stranger and when he said he was going to “just run” to grab a Mountain Dew, he would always find someone to talk to and be home an hour later. Jon was more of a homebody so he did not travel often, but every year he went deer hunting with his buddies in Tama County. He always said, “What happens at deer camp, stays at deer camp”. The guys in the group always joked about how Jon could never sit still and he always managed to come out on top. He brought the weekend “trophy” home again last year for the final time. Jon left behind his wife, Missy, his children, Hailey and Ryan, and his 3 dogs who will all miss him greatly.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-IA-CB4F3249- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
Officer Jon Wacha served with the Lake Mills Police Department.
Thank you for your service. We will always remember your sacrifice.
You belong on this wall. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, brother.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Jon Wacha is one of 256 officers honored for deaths connected to the weight of the job across the full record of this memorial — 0.8% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In IA, 3 of 226 officers were honored for deaths connected to the weight of the job — 1.3% of this state's fallen. That is 0.5 percentage points above the national rate of 0.8%.
National Cause Distribution
How Suicide compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Jon Wacha's cause is highlighted.
How Jon Wacha Compares
When Suicide Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Suicide deaths across the full memorial record. Jon Wacha is highlighted in Jun.