Eternal rest grant unto him Fat he r Ke v in B achm ann
Born • August 3, 1940 Professed • June 7, 1997 Ordained • June 1, 2001 Died • June 12, 2015 •
Requiescat in Pace
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Fr. Kevin (James) Bachmann, O.S.B., a monk of Holy Cross Abbey, Cañon City, Colo., died at St. Benedict’s Abbey on June 12, 2015, after a long battle with cancer. Fr. Kevin was born in Yonkers, N.Y., on August 3, 1940, the son of Charles F. Bachmann and Helen (McGlynn) Bachmann. He received his initial education in Newton, Mass., and then went on to Georgetown University where he earned B.A. and M.A degrees in Spanish and a Ph.D. in Linguistics in 1970, He had been married in 1965 to Rosita Torregrosa and they were the parents of two children; however, the marriage was dissolved and annulled in 1994. Fr. Kevin had distinctive work experience before entering monastic life. He taught English in Santiago, Dominican Republic; was Assistant Professor of English in charge of a Master’s program for teachers of English as a second language at Colorado State University; was a financial planner, a real estate agent, and a deputy sheriff assigned to the corrections center at Fort Collins, Colo.; was Assistant Professor of Hispanic Studies at the University of Northern Colorado; and, taught English as a second language in Saudi Arabia at the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals.
Fr. Kevin worked, for a time, as a professor of English in the Dominican Republic.
Fr. Kevin entered the novitiate at Holy Cross Abbey in 1996 and professed vows on June 7, 1997. After completing the theology program at Saint Vincent Archabbey Seminary and earning a Master of Divinity Degree, he was ordained to the priesthood on June 1, 2001. One of his dreams, following his long experience in the field of education, was to initiate and operate a middle school program on the Holy Cross Abbey property. However, a year later, following the opening of the school, he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma.
While under treatment for cancer, Fr. Kevin was able to minister in several parishes in the Pueblo Diocese in Colorado. In 2010, when he was no longer able to serve in ministry due to his illness, and since Holy Cross Abbey was in the process of closing, he accepted an invitation from the monks of St. Benedict’s Abbey in Atchison, Kansas, to reside as a guest in their health care center at the Abbey.
Fr. Kevin after his ordination in 2001 with his daughter. Seated behind are the Hermanas Josefinas who prepared meals for the monks of Holy Cross Abbey in Cañon City, Colo.
Fr. Kevin is survived by his daughter, Rosita Maria (Bachmann) Torres, his son, James H. Bachmann, and by the monks of Holy Cross Abbey and St. Benedict’s Abbey. We commend our brother, Fr. Kevin, to your prayers.
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Kansas Monks
