Hazel Bach

Hazel Elizabeth (Johnson) Herbst Bach, age 97, passed away at Benedictine Living Community on Saturday, September 29th.  Visitation will be held on Saturday, October 6th from 9:30 – 11:00 a.m. followed by a Memorial Service. Hazel was born on August 26, 1921 to E. Walter and Nannie (Anderson) Johnson, Oshawa Township, Nicollet County, St. Peter MN.  Hazel was baptized, confirmed and a lifetime member at First Lutheran Church.  She attended Country School for eight years and graduated from St. Peter High School in 1940.  She then attended Mankato Commercial College and later worked at Patterson Mercantile in Mankato.  She married Dewey Herbst of New Richland on May 31, 1945 at First Lutheran Church and purchased their farm in Oshawa Township in 1950.  Hazel enjoyed planting flowers, canning, baking cookies, entertaining, playing cards, playing the organ, traveling, camping and dancing.  Dewey passed away August 23, 1977 and Hazel continued to live on the farm and rented the buildings for storage.   In August 1978, Hazel married Stanley Bach.  They enjoyed their time together and took many bus trips and traveled to all the states in the U.S.  They also traveled to Canada and Scandanavian countries.  Stanley passed away February 1, 1995.  Hazel volunteered at First Lutheran Church and the St. Peter Senior Center.  She enjoyed dining with her friends and taking them shopping.  Hazel was an active member of First Lutheran Church, St. Peter Senior Club, birthday and card clubs, the Morson Ario VFW Auxilary #9713, and the Eagles Club of Mankato Auxilary #269. In August 2006, her farm was hit by a tornado and destroyed all of her storage buildings but she remained on the farm and moved to Ecumen Prairie Hill Assisted Living in December 2012. Hazel is survived by nieces (Sylvia Perron, Nora Wilking, Linda Yost, Diane Samuelson, Mary Thompson and Beverly Thorn) and nephews (Wayne, Lee, Neal and Tom Johnson, and David Johnson) and many great nieces and nephews and great grand nieces and nephews from the Johnson and Herbst families.  Hazel is preceded in death by her parents, husbands Dewey and Stanley, brothers Roland and Gordon Johnson, sister Elin Rudolph and two nieces Judy and Shirley Johnson. Thank you to all of the staff at Ecumen Assisted Living for all their wonderful care.