Donald C. Bachem '44 died May 17, 2010.
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DONALD C. BACHEM ’44
Donald C. Bachem, husband, father sailor and raconteur and passionate fisherman, passed away peacefully with family by his side May 17, 2010. Don was a longtime Hampstead and Wilmington resident, having retired here from New York in 1981.
Born in New York City on Feb. 11, 1923, and raised in Port Washington, N.Y., Don graduated from Loomis Prep and attended Amherst College before joining the “Army’s Navy,” serving for six years during WWII. Returning from service in 1946, he went back to Amherst for a couple of months and then left to be married. Don married Barbara Powell of Manhasset, beginning a marriage which lasted 62 years and produced four children. Don and Barbara began married life in Haines, Alaska, before moving to Friday Harbor, Wash., for several years. They returned to New York and settled in Glen Cove as Don began a career in marine insurance brokerage in partnership with his father-in-law. Throughout his long career, Don enjoyed raising his four children, sailing, fishing and traveling with Barbara to Europe and throughout the Caribbean before retiring to Wilmington, where he especially enjoyed walking the beach and exploring the area.
Don is survived by his wife, Barbara; brother, Douglas (Tony); children Christopher, Leslie, Paul and Laura; three grandchildren and several nieces and nephews. His daughter-in-law, Janice, and son-in-law, Steve, also bid him a fond adieu.
—Barbara Bachem