Obituary of Mary McLeod

Mary McLeod

1944-2025

 

When Mary McLeod felt strongly about something, she let you know about it.

She was a lifelong Democrat who promoted liberal candidates and causes. She worked to erase the stigma around mental illness. She was a prolific writer of letters to the editor and a social force of nature.

Mary died March 18 after a battle with Parkinson's disease. She was 80.

Born Mary Katherine Zakariasen in Hopkins, Minn., Mary was the second of seven children of Hazel and Russell. She served as secretary of student government at the University of Minnesota, and married Walt Bachman, student government president. While he was in law school at Stanford University, she earned a Master's in statistics there.

The couple had three children, raised in Minneapolis, and Mary went to U of M law school at age 36. She clerked for the chief justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, then worked at the Faegre & Benson law firm. She later co-founded a three-woman firm.

When she and Walt divorced, to mark the occasion she bought a convertible. She also changed her last name to her mother's maiden name, McLeod.

She was a powerful role model to her two daughters, who grew up to be as independent-minded as she was, and her son, whom she helped survive a mental-health crisis. In the early 2010s, Mary helped lead a $6 million fundraising campaign to transform mental health care at St. Paul's Regions Hospital.

Before the 2018 gubernatorial election, Mary held a fundraiser at her St. Paul condo for then-candidate Tim Walz. She donned a purple witch hat and stood on a coffee table to introduce him.

Mary was a gifted artist, crafting storm clouds in pastels and capturing lilies in water color. She was at times a Unitarian and a humanist. Over her life, Mary gathered regularly with groups of women, from the Breakfast Club to the Sassy Ladies, and other friends to play poker and talk politics. She also loved reunions with Hopkins High classmates.

Mary adored sailing (as a passenger), dancing and music. She once ditched the nosebleeds at a Jimmy Buffett concert to sneak into the hazy-aired expensive seats. She had Elvis- and Downton Abbey-themed parties and hosted poetry slams. Even when she moved into assisted living, she propped open her door and invited anyone passing by to join her gatherings.

Mary also wrote frequent letters to the editor, mainly to the StarTribune and The New York Times. In the dozens she had published, she backed abortion rights, called for better sexual-harassment reporting procedures and shared that she wished more people would speak their minds rather than deferring to "Minnesota Nice."

She encouraged others to write letters to the editor, and wrote an essay on how to get them published. (One key: Keep it short.) "By writing, you learn what you think," she wrote. "You listen to yourself and learn from yourself."
She received tireless, tender care from staff at The Pillars of Prospect Park, who found her to be "fierce" and a "fashionista," and from Grace Hospice.

Mary is survived by her children, Melissa Bachman Ugland and her husband, Erik, and their children, Ella and August; Rachel Bachman and her husband, Darren Everson; and Matthew Bachman. Mary was preceded in death by her parents and a sister, Carol; living siblings include Kay, Russell Jr., Linda, Emilee, and Andrew, and their families.

Donations may be made to the University of Minnesota Foundation Psychiatry Education and Research Fund in Mary McLeod's honor, or to Planned Parenthood North Central States.

A Celebration of life will be held Thursday June 19, 2025, at Cremation Society of Minnesota, 4343 Nicollet Ave. S., Minneapolis. Visitation 2 pm, service 2:30. Reception to follow.