Richard George “Dick” Bach
Richard George “Dick” Bach, 90, passed away Tuesday while under the care of Sherwood Oaks Retirement Community.
Dick was born on Oct. 16, 1927, on Troy Hill to Agnes Benedict Bach and Kaspar Bach.
He was the youngest of eight children. Both of his parents immigrated to America from Germany and Austria and met in Pittsburgh before marrying.
His father owned the Bach Ice Co., where the whole family was part of the business. At the age of 14, the boys started working in the ice business, often climbing two or three stories to place a 50 to 100 pound block of ice into an ice box. His Dad died when he was only 8, so his brother, Bill, ran the family business which later evolved into Bach's Tasty Foods. Dick definitely got his entrepreneurial spirit from his father.
Dick was drafted into the U.S. Army after graduating from North Catholic High School, serving his time in Korea as an Army Postmaster, which also runs in the Bach family as several of his brothers were postmen.
After his stint in the Army overseas, he went to the University of Pittsburgh and graduated with a degree in geology. He was the only child to graduate from college.
In 1951, he married Rosella Mary Osterrieder. After marrying, Dick had a number of work experiences working for others but always had that entrepreneurial spirit and wanted to do more. In 1970, he rolled a refurbished mobile trailer into his back yard in Cranberry Township, where he had been living for 12 years. He took the family phone out to the trailer and opened Richard G. Bach and Associates.
Dick was very active in the development of Cranberry Township from a cranberry bog to the thriving feeder city to Pittsburgh. His company surveyed and set up many of the housing plans and commercial businesses over the years.
Some of the other entrepreneurial efforts he was involved in included being the original investor in the Dairy Queen on Route 19. He purchased a farm that he subdivided into a new housing development on Rose Lane.
Dick was very busy in the evenings, participating on various committees that were developing the Cranberry community. Dick started the Cranberry Rotary Chapter in 1971. In 1990, he was honored as the Pennsylvania Surveyor of the Year.
After Rose's death in 1992, he married Doris Smith in 2000. They traveled extensively after he retired from Bach and Assoc.
Dick moved to Sherwood Oaks in 2012. He was very active there and organized several annual events besides setting up daily pinochle.
He leaves behind to cherish his memory his daughter, Debi Bach and her son, Justin Berini, and daughter, Andrea Lehan, of Concord, Calif.; his daughter, Chris Trimble (spouse Doug) and their daughters, Jessi Trimble (son Chase Black) and Jenni Barto of Butler County; his son, Jeff Bach (spouse Jayne) and their son, Matt Bach (wife Angel) of Economy Borough; and his daughter, Tari Peckham (spouse Walter) and their sons, Christopher and Devin, and their daughters, Alex and Rose, of Walnut Creek, Calif.
In addition to his parents, Dick was preceded in death by two wives, Rosella “Rose” Bach and Doris B. Smith Bach; his granddaughter, Crystal; his great-grandson, Aiden; his sister, Elizabeth; and his six brothers, William, Wolfgang, Frank, Casper, Charles and Fritz.
BACH — Friends of Richard George “Dick” Bach, who died Tuesday, March 6, 2018, will be received from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday at the Boylan-Glenn-Kildoo Funeral Home, 130 Wisconsin Ave., Cranberry Township.A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Ferdinand Catholic Church, 2535 Rochester Road, Cranberry Township.Dick will be laid to rest with military honors at Pinewood Memorial Gardens in Cranberry Township.In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in his honor to St. Ferdinand Catholic Church Building Fund, or to Allegheny Hospice, Office of Fund Development: Hospice and Palliative Care, 4818 Liberty Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15224.Expressions of sympathy may be shared with the family at www.boylanfuneralservices.com.
