Bachman, Ernest (1895-1985)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 21 Feb 1985 p. 2

Birth date: 1895

text of obituary:

Well-Known Kansas Fundraiser for Church Causes Dies at Age 89

Hesston, Kan.—Funeral services for Ernest Bachman, a long-time Newton resident who had lived at Hesston's Schowalter Villa since 1980, are scheduled for 10 a.m., Saturday, Feb. 23, at First Mennonite Church, Newton, where he was a member. Floyd G. Bartel and Lubin Jantzen will officiate. Interment will be in Newton's Greenwood Cemetery.

He died at Schowalter Villa on Feb. 19, at the age of 89.

A well-known fundraiser for church causes, Bachman solicited funds for Bethel College for nine years in Kansas, Oklahoma and Nebraska. He also raised funds for church extension for the Western District (GC) and for Prairie View Mental Health Center.

A former board member of the Schowalter Foundation, he had also served as farm manager of Schowalter lands. A former farmer, he turned over the proceeds from the sale of his farm to the Mennonite Foundation with the provision for an annuity during his and his wife's lifetime.

From the mid-1930s to 1984, Bachman was associated with Mennonite Aid Union of Kansas insurance, serving for a considerable time as the MAU's president and as a member of the finance committee.

In addition, he was a co-founder of the Kansas Mennonite Central Committee Relief Fund.

Bachman was born March 25, 1895 in Halstead, the son of Peter and Katherina Bachman. On June 18, 1919 at Moundridge, he married Prisca Krehbiel, who survives.

Also surviving are two sons, Dale and Donovan, both of Newton; three daughters, Florene Wiens and Kathryn Penner, both of Newton; and Elaine Goertzen of Hillsboro, one brother, Adolph, of Moundridge, 19 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren.