Constance Jean "Connie" Bachmann

Constance ("Connie") Jean Bachmann, 75, Trail Creek, Indiana, passed away at 11:50 p.m. Monday, Oct. 16, 2023, at Franciscan Health Michigan City.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023, at Ott/Haverstock Funeral Chapel, 418 Washington St., Michigan City, Indiana, with Pastor Roscoe Hoffman officiating. Private burial will take place in St. Stanislaus Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 4-8 p.m. Friday Oct. 27, and from 9-11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 28, at the Ott/Haverstock Funeral Chapel.

Connie was born Feb. 26, 1948, in Michigan City, Indiana, to the late Henry and Genevieve (Koziolek) Stellema.

Surviving are two sons, Benjamin (Jane) Bachmann of New Carlisle, Indiana, and Scott (Katy) Bachmann of Chicago, Illinois; five incredible grandchildren that all lovingly called her Busia, Abigail Bachmann, Braden Bachmann, Alec Bachmann, Norah Childress and Ayla Childress; two sisters, Kimberly Stellema of Michigan City, Indiana, and Georgia "Gigi" (Jeff) Pickford of Trail Creek, Indiana; brother, Henry (Carolyn) Stellema of Indianapolis, Indiana; and her partner, Janis Mitchell of Trail Creek, Indiana.

She also leaves behind extended family members who adored her, lifelong friends that were like family to her, and a legacy of lessons she taught that will forever live on through her former colleagues and students.

Connie was a retired educator, having spent 49 years with the Michigan City Area Schools. She taught art for two years before working as a third-, fourth- and sixth-grade teacher at Eastport. The last 25 years of her career were spent as a principal at Eastport, Mullen and Lake Hills Elementary Schools.

She was steadfastly committed to the belief that each individual staff member and student must be included as an equally valued participant in the educational process. Her dedication to this belief resulted in the building of educational communities that not only established her legacy of success as an educator but also enabled the incredible accomplishments of the school communities she led and served.

At a retirement celebration on July 1, 2020, the mayor of Michigan City proclaimed the day to be "Connie Bachmann Day" and honored her by renaming Ferguson Road in front of Lake Hills Elementary School as "Connie Bachmann Drive."

She used her newly found free time in retirement to spend more time with family and friends, golf with the Darling Divots, travel, and go on countless driving excursions in her VW Beetle convertible, which she affectionally named "Pearl."

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Unity Foundation of La Porte County, 422 Franklin St., Suite C, Michigan City, IN, 46360, to support the "Lake Hills Connie Bachmann Scholarship Fund," which will help fund college costs for past Lake Hills Elementary alumni.

To sign a guestbook and leave condolences online, visit our website at www. otthaverstock.com.