A memorial service for Missouri Auditor and candidate for governor Tom Schweich will be held Tuesday at the church he attended in Clayton. The service will be at 10 a.m. at the Church of St. Michael and St. George.

Tom Schweich

Tom Schweich

Schweich died Thursday morning in what police say was an apparent suicide.

Governor Jay Nixon has appointed his senior advisor and long-time staffer as Missouri State Auditor until he makes a permanent appointment. Nixon says John Watson will fill the role until Nixon designates someone to fill out the rest of Tom Schweich’s four-year term, which began in January.

Nixon says Watson will, “serve as state auditor and carry out the important functions of the office until a permanent appointment is made.”

Watson has worked with Nixon since 1997, when he was chief of staff while Nixon was attorney general. He was Nixon’s chief of staff from January 2009 through December of 2014.

“I have tremendous respect for the State Auditor’s Office, and I will carry out these duties in service to the people of Missouri,” Watson said. “I continue to keep Tom Schweich’s family and friends in my thoughts and prayers, and join them in mourning this loss.”