Mary Frances Bache's Obituary
Mary-Frances Coleman Bache passed away at home surrounded by her family on October 14, 2023.
Mary-Frances was born in Ravenscroft, Tennessee on September 5, 1933, the daughter of Clara Burgess Coleman and Ed Ross Coleman. She attended Cumberland County High School in Crossville, Tennessee and became the first person in her family to attend college, graduating from Christian College in Missouri. After college she moved to New York City where she met her husband, Kenneth Bache, through their mutual work with the Village Independent Democrats. They were married on May 27, 1960.
After her husband joined the United States Information Agency as a foreign service officer in 1962, Mary-Frances lived in Trinidad, Guyana, Hong Kong, Zambia, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana and Canada. While raising her children and entertaining heads of state, government ministers, authors, journalists, musicians and artists in their homes, she also pursued her own interests, including hosting her own television show in Kaduna, Nigeria during the Biafran War.
After her husband's retirement in 1986, she moved to Annapolis where she worked for the YWCA Woman's Center, the American Field Service, and the William Snyder Foundation. Following the death of her husband and her own retirement she delighted in helping to care for her granddaughter and being with her family.
She is survived by her daughter, Joanna Bache Tobin (Steven); her son Carl Bache (Jaime); a granddaughter and nieces and a nephew.
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