Father Kevin (James) Bachmann, O.S.B., a monk of Holy Cross Abbey, Canon City, Colorado, died at St. Benedict’s Abbey on June 12, 2015, after a long battle with cancer.  

Vigils for the Dead, followed by visitation, will be prayed on Sunday, June 14, at 7:00 p.m. in St. Benedict’s Abbey Church.  The Mass of Christian Burial for Father Kevin will be celebrated in the Abbey Church on Monday, June 15, at 10:30 a.m. with interment following in the Abbey cemetery.  The Arensberg-Pruett Funeral Home is in charge of final arrangements. Online condolences may be left at www.arensbergpruett.com.

Father Kevin was born in Yonkers, New York, on August 3, 1940, the son of Charles F. Bachmann and Helen (McGlynn) Bachmann.  He received his initial education in Newton, Massachusetts, 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 and was the father of two children; however, the marriage was dissolved and annulled in 1994.

Father Kevin had a varied work experience before entering monastic life.  He taught English in Santiago, Dominican Republic; he was Assistant Professor of English in charge of a Master’s program for teachers of English as a second language at Colorado State University; he was a financial planner, a real estate agent, and a deputy sheriff assigned to the corrections center at Fort Collins, Colorado; he was Assistant Professor of Hispanic Studies at the University of Northern Colorado; and finally, he taught English as a second language in Saudi Arabia at the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals.

Father 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 he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, and so his dream was never fulfilled.

While under treatment for cancer, as well as never-ending shingles, Father Kevin was able to minister in several parishes in the Pueblo Diocese in Colorado.  When he was no longer able to serve in ministry, and since Holy Cross Abbey was in the midst of closing, he accepted the invitation from the monks of St. Benedict’s Abbey to come to Atchison, Kansas, where he resided in the health care center of the Abbey.

Father Kevin is survived by a son, James H. Bachmann, and a daughter, Rosita Maria (Bachmann) Torres, and by the monks of Holy Cross Abbey and St. Benedict’s Abbey.