Edward F. Bachman II

Edward Franklin (Ned) Bachman, of Springfield, VA, passed away peacefully at Inova Fairfax Hospital on Friday June 6, 2025. He was 86 years old. 

Ned was born on May 27, 1939 in Syracuse, New York, to Rev. Lewis Franklin Bachman and Ellen Inez (Wheeler) Bachman. He was the oldest of 5 children. Growing up, Ned and younger siblings Neale, Aimee, Peter, and Maida moved around Upstate New York and parts of northern Pennsylvania,  relocating as their Methodist minister father took assignments in different parishes. The family was settled in Manlius, New York in time for Ned to be elected class president of the newly merged Fayetteville-Manlius High School, class of 1957. 

Matriculating to Syracuse University (Go Orange!), Ned entered college as a Regents Scholar, and while there became a member of Phi Beta Kappa, graduating in 1961. Following his graduation from Syracuse, Ned road-tripped cross-country to attend Claremont School of Theology in California. He studied divinity alongside dear friend David Himrod, both graduating in 1964. Ned then returned to Syracuse to begin work on a never-to-be-completed PhD in history. 

In the spring of 1966, Ned was serving as an associate pastor at a church near Syracuse. He was invited by the wife of the senior pastor to help lead a youth retreat at Casowasco, a Methodist camp and retreat center on the shores of Owasco Lake. He didn’t know it was a set-up; they had also invited Ellen Hammond, a sophomore at Syracuse University who was active in the Methodist student association on campus. In Ned’s telling, as he was driving into the camp, he noticed Ellen and nearly crashed the car. Over the course of the retreat, Ellen dropped several hints about wanting to see a movie called “A Patch of Blue”. Eventually Ned got a clue, and they attended the movie as their first date. They would be engaged on Ellen’s birthday in 1967, and married on June 15, 1968 in a ceremony officiated by the fathers of both bride and groom. 

After Ellen finished her Master’s degree at Syracuse University, the couple moved to the Washington, DC area in the early 1970s, so that Ned could attend George Washington Law School. After earning his JD in 1974, Ned went to work for the Federal Labor Relations Authority, where he spent his career helping facilitate labor management for federal government employees. He served at the FLRA for more than 30 years, retiring in 2007. 

Shortly after moving to the DC area, Ned and Ellen began attending Foundry United Methodist Church, where they remained active members and leaders for over 30 years. Lifelong friends and mentors John and Sue Parker, who were then leaders of the Senior High Methodist Youth Fellowship, saw something they liked in Ned and Ellen, and the couple were soon asked to take up the leadership of the Junior High Fellowship at Foundry. Ned served as leader and mentor for the Junior High youth for the rest of his tenure as a member at the church, shepherding literal generations of young people in faith, philosophy, and tradition. Ned took great joy in ministering to people in young adulthood, and is remembered fondly by many alumni of the MYF as a good listener, a positive role-model, and a kind soul especially in a stage of life that is particularly difficult for many kids. 

In 1979, Ned and Ellen welcomed first daughter Hope, followed by Joanna three years later. The family’s early years were spent in Fairlington, VA, before moving to Alexandria in 1990. When Hope and Jo were small, Ned recorded himself reading kids’ books on cassette tapes, known fondly as Daddy’s Favorite Storyteller, to read them to sleep when he wasn’t able to be home at bedtime. He was close to both daughters and they loved to listen to him make up stories. Long car trips to Upstate New York to visit family were often spent listening to recordings of old radio shows, a lifetime hobby of Ned’s. They were the only kids their age who could recite the opening to Gunsmoke!, would be able to tell Jack Benny how to get to the library, and who knew the secrets of Three Skeleton Key. As both Hope and Jo eventually found their way into the world of theatre, Ned would always be in the audience, or better yet, behind a videocamera, recording their high school shows for posterity. 

During the summer of 1995, Ned joined the Foundry Senior MYF, including Hope, on a mission trip to Wise County, VA as part of the Appalachia Service Project, a foundation which ministers to the underserved and poverty-stricken communities of Appalachia through repair and renovation of homes. Over the next 15 years, Ned would spend at least one week every summer leading successive groups of Methodist youth to the mountains to engage with the people of the region on their own terms, “just as they are, right where they are”. His daughters would join him over the years as both youth volunteers and adult team leaders. Even after his days of mucking about in crawl spaces were over, Ned continued his association with ASP as an advocate for the organization at conferences and events around the DMV and beyond. 

Following retirement, Ned and Ellen became world travelers, with trips to everywhere from Argentina to England. A particularly memorable journey through Southern France allowed Ned to visit the final resting place of his philosophical hero, Albert Camus. In the twenty-tens, Ned found friendship and intellectual stimulation in the Science and Religion group at Metropolitan Memorial United Methodist Church. 2015 was an especially joyous year, when Hope and her husband Mike welcomed Ned’s only grandchild, Paul Edward. Ned found ways to continue connecting with the world even as his mobility declined. He was a long-time member of a men’s book club with friends from Foundry, which, as so many things did, went digital during the Pandemic. Also during that time, he joined both daughters and several of their friends in a regular Zoom session where they would read Shakespeare plays together. In his last years, he spent much of his time reading Scandinavian mystery novels and books about the American Civil War, which was a lifelong passion. He also loved encouraging young Paul’s creative pursuits, as he had always done for his daughters.

Ned is survived by his wife of 57 years, Ellen, his daughters Hope (Mike) and Jo (Thalen), as well as beloved grandson (and fist-bump buddy) Paul. He also leaves behind sisters Aimee Gallipeau (John) and Maida Bachman, brother Peter Bachman, sister-in-law Judy Bachman, and many nieces, nephews, and cousins. Ned was predeceased by his parents and brother Neale. 

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Appalachia Service Project (https://asphome.org/) or the Charcot-Marie-Tooth Association (https://www.cmtausa.org/) as ways to remember and honor Ned. 

A memorial service will take place on Sunday August 17, 2025 at 12:30pm at Foundry United Methodist Church, 1500 16th St NW, Washington, DC.