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Happening ... in the Local Church
 Father
Bach |
 Father
Bach with residents at St. Anthony Health Care in Lafayette in early
2000 |
By Caroline B. Mooney
The
Catholic Moment
LAFAYETTE — Father John Bach, 67, chaplain at St. Anthony Health Care here, was found dead in his home on March 7. It is presumed that he died March 6.
He is remembered as “a lovely priest” by Bev Gettings, who often attended daily Mass at St. Anthony.
“My husband and I loved him; Father Bach was a nice, nice man,” she said. “We often chatted with him after Mass, and I felt very close to him. He always wrote his sermons, and they were right on and very much to the point. One day when I told him that I liked a sermon, he gave me a copy of it.
“I remember when he was teaching at Central Catholic,” Gettings said. “One of our children had taken Father Bach’s religion class and commented that he gave sensible and good advice. I thought that was such a nice thing to know about a priest. We will miss him.”
John A. Bach was born on July 17, 1942, in Chicago. The son of Arnold and Lillian Bach, he had one sister, who survives.
He was ordained by Bishop Raymond J. Gallagher on May 29, 1971, at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception.
He attended St. Alphonsus Grade School and St. Michael’s High School in Chicago. He received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from DePaul University, Chicago, in 1965, followed by a year of special studies in philosophy at Saint Meinrad Seminary in St. Meinrad, Ind. He attended the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., from 1967 to 1970, and received a master’s in divinity from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago in 1972. He received a master’s degree in school administration from Purdue University, West Lafayette, in 1980.
Father Bach’s first assignment was as advocate to the diocesan marriage tribunal with residence at the cathedral parish from 1971 to 1973. He was a faculty member at Central Catholic High School from 1973 to 1978, and served as principal from 1978 to 1981.
Father Gerald Borawski, pastor of Our Lady of the Lakes Church, Monticello, got to know Father Bach well when they lived at the cathedral parish for five years.
“Msgr. Fred Potthoff was our pastor, and he said some of his best times were with us because we got along so well together and were working for the parish,” Father Borawski said. “It was really fun living with Father Bach. We got to know each other’s families well. I remember driving him to visit his parents in Chicago because he didn’t want to drive in that traffic. We had good times with his folks.
“A lot of people I have run into were touched by his devotion to their relatives living at St. Anthony’s,” he said. “Father Bach was often ill, but he still wanted to serve others in spite of the burden he was carrying. I know a lot of people liked to go to confession with him. He would always go out of his way to compliment people. Father Bach’s great devotion and love for the kids at Central Catholic, to the police and to the elderly at St. Anthony will not be forgotten for a long time.”
“Father Bach was a very good teacher at CC and his students were devoted to him,” Msgr. Potthoff said. “They had a great respect for him, and he was quite devoted to them, also.
“While he was at St. Anthony, Father Bach was very helpful to people in their suffering,” he said. “He was very compassionate in his treatment of them and their families.”
In 1981, Father Bach was named pastor of St. Charles Church, Otterbein, and St. Bridget Church, Barrydale. In 1985, he became chaplain of the Lafayette Police Department. In 1986, he became chaplain at the now-closed Monastery of the Precious Blood in Lafayette, with responsibility for St. Anthony Health Care and associate chaplain at St. Elizabeth Medical Center, Lafayette. He was granted retirement in 2007.
“Father Bach continued to keep his friendship alive and well with his Lafayette sisters (of the Sisters Adorers of the Precious Blood Monastery) through the letters he wrote to us since we arrived in Manchester, N.H., in November 2006,” said Sister Mary Therese, APB. “He was a member of the dear group of community friends who were on hand to welcome us back to Lafayette in January 2009 when we returned for our Sister Alice Mary Kennedy’s burial in St. Mary Cemetery.
“I was sacristan in Lafayette for several years and appreciated Father’s kind demeanor and gracious manner. He is our brother in Christ and I am grateful for his presence in my life. He was a good shepherd to those who shared in his journey to Jesus.”
“Father Bach became the chaplain for the Lafayette Police Department in May 1985 and served with us through the end of 1999,” said Dave Payne, deputy chief of the Lafayette Police Department.
“I was sworn in as a police officer in July 1985 and had the privilege of sharing many moments with Father Bach. He had a great sense of humor and a real understanding of the police mentality. He understood that sometimes when you are dealing with horrifying situations, humor can help you get through it. Police and priests certainly play much different roles in society, but we share the burden of being present for some of the worst times life has to offer. Having someone like Father Bach there with you to talk was a real relief.
“Typically, chaplains help the police make death notifications or will go along with us to deliver some tragic news to a family,” Payne said. “The department put red lights in his car so that he could respond with us when we needed him. I doubt that he ever really used them, but I know he enjoyed his time with the LPD and was proud to be our chaplain. Father Bach’s demeanor and style fit perfectly for a police chaplain and he would often come down to the department just to ride along and see what was going on in the city. It was always great fun to hear him share his stories, delivered with his signature dry wit. I, along with many others, felt honored to be counted among his friends and colleagues.”
Abby Benkeser met Father Bach 23 years ago at St. Anthony Health Care, where she attends daily Mass. She has helped with the readings during Mass and distributing Communion in the center.
“He was really great at that job,” she said. “Everybody loved Father Bach. Many non-Catholics over the years told me that he came in to visit with them and they were impressed by him.
“As people heard of his death, everyone who worked there kept telling me how sorry they are and how they will miss him,” Benkeser said. “He was good at what he did and he brought a lot of Catholics back to the Church.
“He worked under hard circumstances, because his health was quite bad,” she said. “He asked me to start helping with Communion because his legs bothered him. He was very appreciative of all the volunteer help. We got along well together and I really enjoyed his company. He was a fine gentleman. He was really appreciated by a lot of people. We will be missing him a lot.”
Father Bach was awarded a Sagamore of the Wabash by Gov. Evan Bayh in 1990 and the Marquis of Lafayette by Mayor Tony Roswarski in 2008. He was a life fourth-degree member of Knights of Columbus Council 456, and a life member of the fraternal order of police, Arman Lodge 49.
A funeral Mass for Father Bach was to be celebrated March 11 at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception, with Father Borawski serving as homilist.
May he rest in peace.