John BACHELLER

1929 - 2017

BACHELLER, Jr., John John Bacheller, Jr. of Atlanta, Georgia, peacefully passed away at his home on Friday March 24, 2017, at the age of 88. He was born on January 8, 1929, in Union City, Georgia to John Bacheller, Sr. and Annie Lee McMillan Bacheller. After attending Sewanee University and graduating from Denison University in 1951, John joined the Air Force and he was stationed in Japan where he climbed Mt. Fuji. After serving in the Air Force, John attended Emory School of Law and earned his law degree with distinction in 1959. John worked as an attorney for the firm Fisher and Phillips and dedicated himself to the practice of labor law. He was named as a senior partner and even argued a case before the Supreme Court. He later continued in the practice of law by opening his own firm, Bacheller, Shade, & McDonald. After retiring from the law, John focused on teaching. John was a passionate teacher who took an interest in all of his students. He was a tenured professor who taught the Legal Environment of Business at Georgia Perimeter College. He loved working with and inspiring a new generation of thinkers. John had a unique ability to engage whomever he met wherever he met them, regardless of the circumstances. A curious soul, a world traveler, a voracious reader, he loved political and intellectual discussions. John was a masterful writer and debater. He had an astute knowledge of presidents with James A. Garfield being his favorite. He truly had a beautiful mind and made everyone he met feel special. He was a giving individual who came from humble beginnings and achieved too many accolades to list here. John was a true renaissance man. John's house was always full of love and guests every Fourth of July for the annual Bacheller family reunion and the first Saturday in December for his annual Christmas party. John was the patriarch of a large family and he will be greatly missed. John is survived by his wife, best friend, and soul mate of forty years, Karen Bacheller, seven children John III (Sue Ann), Marian (Larry), Melora (Robert), Chet (Debbie), Harry (Terri), Damon (Judy), and Daniel (Jennifer), 20 grandchildren, 15 great-grand-children, and too many friends to count.