White Funeral Home
400 First Street West
Independence, Iowa 50644

Eugene Francis Bachman

January 15, 1935 - July 16, 2021

Eugene Francis Bachman passed away in his sleep on July 16, 2021. He was 86 years old and lived a long and fruitful life despite having Alzheimer’s Disease in his final years.

Gene was born in Winthrop, Iowa, to Merlin Francis Bachman and Esther Suckow Bachman on January 15, 1935. He was the second of two sons and had five sisters. Gene grew up in and around Lima, Iowa, while his father farmed the land and raised livestock following the years of the Great Depression.

He attended the Lima School, a one-room schoolhouse, through the eighth grade before moving on to Fayette High School. Gene was known to carry his fishing pole with him on the way to school. He would hide his fishing pole in the weeds and retrieve it on his way home from school so that he could fish the creeks of the Volga River before the chores that were waiting at home. No doubt, this is when Gene developed his lifelong passion for fishing. Gene graduated from Fayette High School in 1953.

He met Alta Magneson in Oelwein, Iowa, in 1954 and decided to marry not long afterward. They married on February 5, 1955, at The Little Brown Church in the Vale in Nashua, Iowa. His first job outside of the family farm was in the tool room of The Oliver Company in Charles City, Iowa. That job would begin his lifelong work as a tool and die maker. The seeds that were sown from those early experiences would grow into Gene’s founding his own company, Bachman Tool & Die Company, in Independence, Iowa, in 1972.

The first of his eight children were born in April of 1956. Seven more children were born to him and Alta by December of 1965. By this time, he had moved his growing family of eight children to Oelwein, Iowa, where he worked at Oelwein Tool & Die as the lead man in the tool department. In the years there, he learned the operations of a small tool and die company which included bringing in new business to support that company’s growth. Many summers, Gene took his family on vacations to Balsam Lake, Wisconsin. Whenever possible, he took time to fish and hunt with his buddies and his young boys. In the summer of 1967, with the destination of Yellowstone National Park, a memorable trip by station wagon pulling a pop-up camper was enjoyed by all.

Gene was proud of his eight children and watching them grow into the husbands and fathers, wives and mothers they are today, was truly his pleasure. He loved his grandchildren and great grandchildren. He was also proud of building a business that helped to support so many families over the decades. Eugene Bachman was predeceased by his parents, Merlin and Esther Bachman; one infant granddaughter, Lisa Hunter; and daughter-in-law, Nery Bachman.

He is survived by all eight of his children along with their children: Lynn Bachman of Madison, Wisconsin; Cheryl Bachman of Seattle, Washington; Jeannie (Kent) Kelderman of West Des Moines, Iowa; Lee Bachman of Swisher, Iowa; Diane (Michael) Hunter of Mesa, Arizona; Leon (Jeanne) Bachman of Independence, Iowa; Karen (Lawrence) Bachman-Ellis of Seattle, Washington; Robert Bachman of Marengo, Iowa; and many grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Also surviving Eugene, are all six of his siblings: James (Louise) Bachman of Hazelton, Iowa; Delores (Bill) Orr of Maynard, Iowa; Marilyn Corkery of Marion, Iowa; Jeannette (Hal) Arment of Shawnee, Kansas; Sharon (Tom) Wilkinson of Atkins, Iowa; and Connie (Neil) Jennings of Hudson, Wisconsin; and close friend, Rick Trier.

He will be missed by all who knew and loved him.

Private family services will be held. A memorial fund in his name to assist young fathers with Alcoholism go through alcohol treatment is being established.

White Funeral Home, Independence, Iowa, is in charge of arrangements.