Ellen Ann Bachman, 85, went to join her Savior on November 12, 2023.  There will be a celebration of life get-together on December 3, 1-3 PM, at the Lake Kiowa Lodge, 905 Kiowa Dr W., Gainesville, Texas.  There will be an additional celebration of life in Missouri on January 7, at 2 PM, at the Public School House, 5546 Chestnut St., Cottleville, Mo., 63304.

Ellen Ann Keith Smith Bachman was born in Deming, New Mexico, Nov. 6, 1938, to Andrew Marshal Keith and Mary Ellen Hape.  She was the oldest of seven children. Ann, as she was known to her friends, survived her first husband, Ralph Dean Smith Sr., with whom she had 3 children.  She married the love of her life, Bruce Bachman, on September 2, 1977, and spent the next 46 years with him.  He was at her side when she passed.

She is survived by daughter Deanna Brown and husband Bob Rea, sons Jeffrey Andrew Smith and Ralph Dean Smith, granddaughter Michelle Branch and her husband Cory and Ann’s great granddaughter Charlotte May Branch, and grandson Dean Smith.  She is also survived by 2 sisters, Cathy Aley and husband Tom, Marty Arnold and husband John, as well as two brothers, Tim Keith and wife Tammy, and Pat Keith.

Ann was a devout Christian and a faithful servant in the churches she joined.  She was a member of the Countryside Christian Church in Wichita, where she raised her children, and later a member of the Mid Rivers Church in St Peters, Missouri.     She was also an adventurous person, a voracious reader, a staunch conservative, and loyal to her family.  She raised her children by herself after Ralph Sr. passed away in a farm accident.  She worked very hard to keep her kids together, work, and go to school at night.  She obtained a pilot’s license and was always very proud of the fact that her flight instructor was a Tuskegee Airman.  After gaining a pilot’s license she went to work for the FAA and had a long career as an air traffic controller.     Ann was also an athlete at heart, she played softball until she was 72, she was a lifelong golfer, water and snow skiing were also at the top of the list.  She loved being on the lake with her family and friends and taught many children how to water ski. She also had a motorcycle and taught all her kids how to ride  one when they were young.

In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made to the orphanage El Nino’s de Mexico, PO Box 309, Union, Missouri, 63084.