Rev. Ben Bachmeier

The Rev. Ben

Bachmeier, 82, Priest of

the Diocese of Fargo,

passed away Monday,

February 15, 2021 in

Scripps Mercy Hospital in

San Diego, CA.

Adam Benhart “Ben”

Bachmeier was born Au-

gust 21, 1938 on a farm

near Balfour, ND. He was

the twelfth living child of

Ignatius and Ethel (Lau-

inger) Bachmeier. He

lived with his family on

various farms until the

age of six when the family

moved to Towner, ND. He

was raised in Towner and

graduated from Towner

High School in 1957. Dur-

ing grades 7- 12, he

worked in the newspaper

office of the Mouse River

Farmer’s Press. Also, he

delivered the weekly pa-

per, Grit, assisted at the

local Super Value Grocery

Store and placed billboard

listings for the local

theater.

Following high school,

Ben enrolled at the

University of North Dako-

ta, where he majored in

Journalism. He worked at

the University Press and

served as sports editor

and then editor of the stu-

dent newspaper, The

Dakota Student. His pub-

lications received an

All-American rating from

the National Association

of Student Publications.

He was a member of Sig-

ma Delta Chi Fraternity,

Journalism Society, and

was named to Blue Key,

honorary society.

Upon graduation from

UND in 1961, he accepted

a position as acting Direc-

tor of the Bureau of News

and Information at UND.

When the director re-

turned a year later follow-ing a sabbatical, Ben be-

came the first news editor

of the Bureau. He was em-

ployed there until January

1963 when he began his

studies for the Roman

Catholic priesthood, en-

rolling at Loyola Universi-

ty, Chicago, for a semester

of accelerated Latin Stu-

dies. In the fall of 1963,

he entered St. John’s Sem-

inary, Collegeville, MN.

He was ordained a Roman

Catholic Priest for the

Diocese of Fargo on June

9, 1968 at his home parish

of St. Cecilia at Towner,

ND.

Fr. Bachmeier served as

an associate pastor of St.

Mary’s Cathedral in Fargo,

ND from 1968 to 1972.

While there he also was

the editor of the diocesan

newspaper, Catholic Ac-

tion News, for a year. He

was transferred to St. Al-

phonsus Parish, Langdon,

ND and served there for a

year before being named

pastor of St. Francis Par-

ish, Marion, ND, and As-

sumption Parish, Dickey,

ND. In February 1979, he

was called to be pastor of

Holy Family Parish Grand

Forks, ND. While there he

supervised the building of

the parish’s first church,

completed in 1983. In

1991, he moved to Ender-

lin, ND to serve St.

Patrick’s Parish with mis-

sions at Alice, ND and

Sheldon, ND.

In 1992, he received a

leave of absence from the

Diocese of Fargo to serve

as a priest chaplain at

Scripps Mercy Hospital in

San Diego, CA. He served

there until his retirement

in March 2004. He contin-

ued to be a priest on-call

at Mercy Hospital and Na-

val Medical Center. He as-

sisted in various parishes

and officiated at

numerous weddings, pri-

marily at the Immaculata

and Founders Chapel on

the University of San

Diego campus.

He was a committed

Democrat and strong ad-

vocate of Vatican II Coun-

cil changes in the Catholic

Church.

He is survived by: his

nieces and nephews, Pri-

ests of the Diocese of Far-

go and many friends.

Fr. Bachmeier was pre-

ceded in death by: his

parents, 6 brothers, and 5

sisters.

Mass of Christian Buri-

al: 11:00 a.m. Monday,

March 1, 2021 in Holy

Family Catholic Church,

Grand Forks, ND.

Visitation: 3:00 to 5:00

p.m. Sunday with a 5:00

p.m. vigil service in Holy

Family Catholic Church.

Visitation will continue

for one hour prior to the

liturgy in the church on

Monday.

Burial: In the spring at

Calvary South Cemetery,

Grand Forks, ND.

Due to COVID-19 con-

cerns, masks and social

distancing will be re-

quired during the visita-

tion and funeral.

To view the live stream

funeral liturgy, please

visit

www.holyfamilygf.org.

The online memorial

registry may be signed at

www.normanfuneral.com.

(The Historic Norman

Funeral Home, Grand

Forks, ND)