Adam Benhart (Ben) Bachmeier was born on a farm near Balfour, ND on August 21, 1938 as the twelfth child of Ignatius Bachmeier and Ethel Lauinger. He lived on various farms with his family until the age of six when they moved to Towner, ND. He completed grade and high schools there, graduating from Towner High in 1957. While in school he worked before and after school and weekends at the newspaper office of the Mouse River Farmers Press from the ss7th grade through high school. He also delivered "Grit" weekly newspapers, carried out groceries at the local Super Valu and placed billboard listings for the local theater.
Following high school he enrolled at the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, where he majored in journalism. He worked at the University Press and served as sports editor and then editor of the Dakota Student. His publication received an All-American rating from the National Association of Student Publications. He was a member of Sigma Delta Chi, journalism society, and was named to Blue Key, honorary society.
Upon graduation from UND in 1961, he accepted a position as Acting Director of the Bureau of News and Information at UND. When the director returned a year later following a sabbatical, Bachmeier became the first news editor of the Bureau. He was employed there until January 1963 when he began his studies for the Roman Catholic seminary, enrolling at Loyola University, Chicago, for a semester of elevated Latin studies. In the fall of 1963 he entered St. John's Seminary, Collegeville, MN. He was ordained for the Diocese of Fargo on June 9, 1968 at his home parish of St. Cecilia's Church, Towner, ND. He was the first priest to be ordained from that parish.
He served as an associate pastor of St. Mary's Cathedral from 1968 to 1972. While there he also served as editor of the diocesan newspaper, Catholic Action News, for a year.
He was transferred to St. Alphonsus Parish, Langdon, and served there for a year before being named pastor of St. Francis Parish, Marion, ND, and Assumption 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 Enderlin, ND to serve St. Patrick's Parish there with mission parishes at Alice and Sheldon.
In 1992 he received a leave of absence from the Diocese of Fargo to serve as a priest chaplain at Mercy Hospital in San Diego, CA He served there until his retirement in March 2004. He then continued to do some priest on-call at Mercy and Naval Medical Center. He also assisted at Ascension Parish and St. Didacus. In retirement, he assisted numerous engaged couples in their preparation and weddings.
He was a staunchly committed Democrat and a strong advocate of Vatican II changes in the Catholic Church.
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