Eileen Grace Bachrodt Frazier Bates

Eileen Grace Bachrodt Frazier Bates, 98, passed away Sunday, February 23, 2020. She was born on June 26, 1921 in Lovilia, Iowa, the daughter of Louis and Loretta (Hurley) Bachrodt. Showing great talent as a musician, she had dreams of being a concert pianist after she graduated from St. Joseph’s Academy, Des Moines, Iowa in 1938. However, the Great Depression and WWII caused her plans to dramatically change. Instead, she became a nurse, graduating from St. Vincent’s School of Nursing in Sioux City, Iowa in 1943 and entered the Army Nurse Corps immediately after graduation. She joined the 59,000 other nurses in WWII, working with wounded soldiers from both the Pacific Theatre and Europe in Colorado, Mississippi, Florida and Los Angeles bases. She recalled introducing the newly-developed miracle drug, penicillin, in the struggle to save the most grievously wounded. “It was like night and day. We gave penicillin to some of the boys who were fighting for their lives with massive infections, and literally within days, they were recovering. No one had ever seen anything like it.” She was eventually promoted to First Lieutenant and took great pride in being one of the last living WWII nurses.
After she left the Army in 1946, she married Daniel Robert Steele Frazier who was a fighter pilot in WWII and Korea. They had two daughters, Frances and Julia. After her marriage ended, she and her daughters moved to Rockford, IL. She continued her nursing career by moving into industrial nursing, working for National Lock, Sundstrand and Elco where she met Carlton (C.R.) Bates. They married in 1957 and in 1963, they had a son, Neil Bates.
But her love of music endured and she continued to play her favorite composer, Frederic Chopin, on her beloved baby grand piano. Her family predicted her moods by which pieces she played. If she played Chopin’s nocturnes and waltzes, all was well. If she pounded out Chopin’s “Revolutionary” Etude in C Minor, they knew they were in trouble. But never for long because she loved her children and husband unconditionally and without reservation.
After retirement, she frequently traveled to Denver, CO, Santa Fe and Taos with her daughters. She adored the American Southwest and collected Native American pottery and art. Her beloved C.R. predeceased her in 2016 and her granddaughter, Elizabeth in 2019. Her brothers, Herman, Paul and Louis Bachrodt as well as her sister, Mary Bachrodt Aschenbrenner also predeceased her.
She was a member of Holy Family Catholic Church in Rockford. She is survived by her daughters, Frances Waible of Round Lake, IL, Julie Lucas (Greg) of Denver CO, and son, Neil Bates of DeKalb, IL; grandchildren, Brian Lucas (Laura) of San Francisco, CA, Guy Bates of Tuscola, IL, and Lexie Bates of DeKalb, IL; and great grandchildren, Joseph Beckman of Round Lake, IL and Adriana Lucas of San Francisco, CA; her sisters, Margie Bachrodt Muelhaupt of St. Paul, MN and Helen Erickson of Sioux City, IA.
The family would like to thank U.S. Representative Adam Kinzinger and retired State Representative Robert W. Pritchard for their assistance in obtaining benefits for Eileen, and Sharon Myers for her care of both Eileen and C.R. in their later years.
The family will hold a celebration of life memorial and inurnment for Eileen later this year. Cremation rites accorded with Fitzgerald Funeral Home & Crematory. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Eileen’s name to the Alzheimer’s Association.