West Lebanon, N.H. — Theodore Erlon Bachelder, 79, of Sugar Hill, N.H. and West Lebanon, died on Sunday, April 3, 2016 at home in West Lebanon comforted by his loving family and wife, Rae.
Ted was born March 19, 1937, in Gorham, Maine, the seventh child of Henry L. and Ella Hannaford Bachelder. After graduating from Gorham High School, where he was a three-sport varsity athlete, he earned an A.B. from Dartmouth College in 1959 and an M.B.A. from the Amos Tuck School of Business in 1960.
Ted began his investment career in Chicago at the Northern Trust Bank; he went on to serve as Vice President at Boston Management and Research Company and later joined, as Co-Manager, Resource Management Associates, a limited investment partnership also in Boston.
In 1973, Ted and his family returned to Maine where he and Rae founded T.E. Bachelder Associates, a coastal real estate business in Edgecomb serving Lincoln County; they owned and operated the business for 20 years. They retired to Sugar Hill in 1995 and moved to West Lebanon in 2009.
Ted was an inspiration to many, surviving cancer for five and a half years with dignity, determination and his characteristic dry wit. Family and friends will remember Ted’s keen interests in music, film and philosophy, his love of the outdoors and his time-tested tales. He valued independent thought and was delighted to discover an early ancestor who “had a genius for opposing the majority.” Ted’s passions also included antique and collectible cars, as well as architecture and historic homes. He and Rae spent countless hours renovating homes. To honor fond memories of growing up in Gorham, Maine, he created an HO scale train model of his and Rae’s hometown.
Survivors include his wife of 57 years, whom he met in kindergarten, Rae Johnson Bachelder; son Todd F. Bachelder and his wife Joanna H. of South Hadley, Mass.; daughter Loren B. Wright and her husband John B. of Goodland, Fla. and Woolwich, Maine; five grandchildren Jacob H., Naomi F. and Rachel Mitchell and Samuel A. and Hillary C. Bachelder; sister Ann Moody of Gorham, Maine; and many nieces and nephews. Siblings Shirley Lee, Robert Bachelder, Richard Bachelder, Marguerite DeRoche and Mary Murchie predeceased Ted.
The family thanks Drs. Louis Kazal, Gregory Ripple, Richard Barth and the Norris Cotton Cancer Center staff. In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made in Ted’s memory to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health/NCCC, Office of Development, One Medical Center Drive, HB 7070, Lebanon, NH 03756-0001. A Remembrance for Ted will be held at a future date.