Alex Bache
Alex Davis Bache CAS ’18 of La Canada-Flintridge, California, passed away “by misadventure” on June 15, 2021, at age 25.
Born in 1995, in Arcadia, California, Alex spent his earliest years in Pasadena before moving with his family to La Canada in 1997. At La Canada High School, he participated in men’s ensemble, theatre, and debate. He was also a standout wrestler at 182 lbs. for a league championship team, earning the team MVP award his senior year. He graduated in 2014.
His tight group of friends will remember him as a thoughtful, grandiose peer. He was an avid and prodigious reader and media critic. His friend group endured many mental health challenges and worked as best they knew how to support each other.
During the summer of 2012, Alex, his siblings, and their father bicycled across the United States from Astoria, Oregon, to Lavallette, New Jersey. As the only family member under age 18, he did not have a choice in his participation.
After high school, Alex matriculated at Lewis & Clark College. A novice oarsman, he advanced to the varsity boat in the spring of his first year, posting the third-highest 2,000-meter erg score for a first-year student in school history. A misunderstanding with his professor cut short his participation during his sophomore year, leading to depression and a need to leave school.
In pursuit of a career in education, Alex earned an associate of arts (AA) degree at Pasadena City College in 2020. At the time of his death, he was attending the University of La Verne. Alex was proud of the legacy he was building as an atypical sojourner in our academic systems. He was proud that he had both failed and tried anew.
Alex returned to La Canada and served as an assistant wrestling coach at La Canada High School, supervising the junior varsity and girls squad for three seasons. He then coached the junior varsity and girls team at Los Osos High School. He was a dedicated and thoughtful teacher.
As the youngest of four, he was often a reluctant passenger on many trips. He traveled to the Baltic states at the age of 6 months and later visited Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Greece, Austria, Ukraine, Australia, Singapore, and Cambodia. He spent four months in Edinburgh, Scotland, assisting with Open Book Poetry and Augustine United Church spiritual education. He was very active in the La Verne Church of the Brethren, especially when asked to help. He spent summers as a lifeguard and camp manager at Camp La Verne near Jenks Lake in the San Bernardino mountains and deeply enjoyed his friendships and time spent there.
Alex is survived by his parents, Sara Davis of La Canada and Stephen Bache of Portland; sister Kathryn and her husband, Christopher Lotz of San Francisco, and their three children, Theodore, Arden, and Iris; sister Elizabeth and her husband, Jonathan Bay of Long Beach, California; and brother Christopher Bache of La Canada.