In Memoriam
Tim Bachmeyer
January 9, 2021
Tim Bachmeyer
1964 graduation
Thomas John (“Tim”) Bachmeyer of Clermont FL died on August 31, 2020. In the absence of an obituary, we include his 50th Reunion personal essay below. We posted Tim’s book, Preserving the Legacy of a Family-Owned Business: A Psychology of Business Succession, on the Yale Authors Facebook page in 2020.
Tim posted the following on his LinkedIn page:
Co-Director of The Windhorse Center in Windermere, FL. “My purpose is to help people lead deeper and richer lives by stewarding their own inner resources to help them thrive and make never-before-imagined impacts on their organizations, families, and their own satisfaction with life.
“Through the programs of The Windhorse Center in Juno Beach, FL, working with its visionary and founder, my wife Ellen Bachmeyer, LCSW, together we help individuals and couples learn new techniques of consciousness. Having studied with indigenous wisdom keepers in Peru and other countries, we bring their wisdom gained over thousands of years and combine it with modern wisdom to build foundations from which to launch ourselves successfully through the many crossroads life brings to each of us.”
When Tim died, he left the manuscript of a book on cancer titled Dancing with the Big Elephant in the Room: Men with Cancer, Caretaking, and Wellbeing. His wife Ellen intends to see the manuscript through to publication. Details may be found in this news story, which also includes a remembrance of Tim by Patrick Caviness ’64.
Remembrance by Francis Snyder ’64
Tim was my roommate for two years at Yale. I have many memories of our exciting conversations about life — past, present, and future. Coming from broadly different backgrounds, we had many common interests, and even as we grew older, our paths, despite superficial differences, actually converged in numerous ways. I will always remember you, Tim. May you RIP.
Personal Essay by Tim Bachmeyer
Published in our 50th Reunion Class Book (2014)
Tim Bachmeyer
50th Reunion Class Book
I've always been somewhat of a rebel in the face of tradition, questioning why things need to be as they are. That means wanting to get behind the social surface to what is "really" going on, while forging ahead on my own path. That has meant early on discovering as much as I can about transcendent energies that shape our destinies, our social organizations, and our planet. I suppose my philosophy major at Yale and graduate studies at the University of Chicago were the crystallization of these instincts. Recently, after surviving two life-threatening illnesses (myelofibrosis and stage 4 melanoma), I can say I am simply grateful to be here. I am fortunate to have a loving, intelligent wife and companion for 34 years, and together we have weathered the storms of having two children who survived their teenage years and have grown into special young adults.
I also have a son from my first marriage, a daughter-in-law and two grandchildren who are all gifts from a time in my life when my decisions and their consequences did not exactly qualify as mature.
Part of my search for career fulfillment involved joining — and then departing — the Methodist Ministry. During that time I was also one of two Protestants on the faculty of the Milwaukee Archdiocesan School of Pastoral Ministry, teaching interdisciplinary theology in the early '70's. At that time I felt very much a part of the sweep of history, just as I had in the '60's being at Yale and later the Univ. of Chicago during the Vietnam War, the civil-rights struggle, and the religious changes following the Second Vatican Council.
I then was clinically trained in psychotherapy and I conducted a private practice for a dozen years, helping my clients deal with their personal energies beneath the social roles they had achieved. After going through a divorce, my career evolved into professional fundraising where I worked for non-profits, hoping to make a significant difference. That included 15 years in health care — six in the environment, and six in legal services.
Regaining my health recently, I am on the path of social and personal betterment once again, having launched a management consultancy. I conduct speaking engagements, seminars, and coaching through what I have developed as Personalized Leadership Training. Working with five natural capacities for leadership everyone possesses, I use my experience in psychology, the corporate world, and spirituality to help executives expand their natural leadership abilities. The excitement of being educated at Yale continues to permeate my career and personal interests, and I look forward to reconnecting with other Old Blues in 2014.