Robert Bourree Bach, 83, passed away on Wednesday, January 24, 2007 at Groton Regency Nursing Home.
The son of Carl Christian Bach and Anna Helena Anderson Bach, he was born on June 11, 1923 in Hagerstown, MD and grew up in Forty Fort PA. He was state wrestling champion and graduated from Forty Fort High School in 1941. He received a full scholarship to the University of Chicago and joined the Navy in 1942, then went on to Midshipmen School at Columbia University, eventually becoming an Ensign.
He served in the Pacific in Guam, Okinawa and Wake Island as an Intelligence Officer in WWII. After the war h e graduated from Dartmouth College in 1947 with an economics degree.
He worked in the insurance business, coached wrestling at Swarthmore College and later moved to Plainfield, NJ and worked in sales for Q-W Laboratories. In 1968 he became Business Manager and Wrestling Coach for Wardlaw-Hartridge School in Edison NJ, where he retired in 1988.
He continued living in Plainfield, NJ until 2005, when he moved to Mystic, CT. He was a past president of the Plainfield Kiwanis Club, a volunteer for the Red Cross and an active member of the Dartmouth Alumni Association.
Throughout his life, Bob never lost his passion for wrestling, and attended and officiated at the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Championships for many years. His other great interest was traveling and he took great pride in the fact that he had visited over 75 countries. He was well-loved by his family and friends and known by all as a kind man and a true gentleman.
He is survived by his brother, Harold Bach of Falmouth, MA, his son, Del-Bourree Bach of Mystic, CT, his daughter, Robin Peel Bach Berman of Teaneck, NJ and two grandchildren, Christopher Bach Berman and Katrin Allegra Berman.
There will be a celebration of his life at a later date. There are no visiting hours.
To send his family a message of remembrance/condolence, please click the link below.