Obituary of Terrie Lee (Wildermuth) Bain (1949–2017)

The published obituary of Terrie Lee (Wildermuth) Bain — Chuck Eesley’s mother — following her death Tuesday, 16 May 2017, at her residence in Marietta, age 68. This obituary closes the arc opened a year before by Charlie Eesley’s eulogy and 26 November 2015 death, and the half-decade before that by her father Robert Earl Wildermuth’s death, reframing the story this archive has been telling around her: the lifelong elementary-school teacher of Marietta whose chosen work was children’s literacy, the traveling Air Force daughter who landed in Marietta as her permanent home, and the devoted aunt-and-niece whose obituary explicitly names her closeness to Betty and Norm Wolfe.

What the obituary establishes

Birth: “She was born on January 13, 1949 in Oakland, CA to the late Robert and Dorothy Marie Davis Wildermuth.” Terrie was born in Oakland, California — not Ohio — reflecting Robert Earl Wildermuth’s then-active military posting on the West Coast (he was a Navy and later Air Force flight surgeon). The Oakland birthplace marks her as a Cold-War-era military child, with the family’s Marietta home base reached later.

Early life of travel: “Terrie traveled the U.S. and Japan until graduating high school.” — Terrie’s childhood and adolescence followed her father’s Air Force postings across the United States and Japan. The Japan posting is a previously-undocumented detail. She graduated high school somewhere in that traveling-family arc, then came back to Marietta for college.

Education: Marietta College, then University of Maryland. Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in early childhood education, plus many other certifications including, most recently, a one-year Master Teaching Certification program. Terrie kept developing her teaching credentials her whole working life.

Teaching career — twenty-three years: “Terrie was a school teacher for the Marietta City School District for twenty-three years.” Her teaching positions are named explicitly:

• Children’s librarian at Marietta Public Library
• Teacher at North Hills Elementary
• Title I teacher at Harmar Elementary — teaching at the same Harmar neighborhood where her father Robert Earl had grown up at 413 Harmar Street.
• Safety Town instructor in summers for many years.

The Wolfe closeness named outright: “She loved entertaining visiting family and was a close relative to Betty and Norm Wolfe.” — the obituary itself names her closeness to Betty and Norm Wolfe, the 108 Hillcrest Drive holiday hosts of Chuck’s childhood (the Davis-line aunt and uncle). This is the family’s own confirmation, in print, of the warmth this archive has tried to render.

Husband (Benjamin F. Bain II) — fifteen-year marriage: “In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband of 15 years, Benjamin F. Bain II (12/21/2014).” Terrie’s husband Benjamin F. Bain II died 21 December 2014 — just over two years before Terrie’s own 2017 death, and eleven months before her brother Charlie Eesley’s 26 November 2015 death. The fifteen-year marriage places its start c. 1999. The Bain name is Terrie’s second-married name; her first marriage to Charlie Eesley produced their son Chuck and ended before this second marriage.

Sole survivor among her children: “She is survived by her son, Charles ‘Chuck’ Eesley, Ph.D. (Lijie) of Stanford, CA.” The obituary names Chuck and Lijie (his wife) of Stanford, California — Chuck’s settled life by 2017, sixteen years into his time on the West Coast.

Siblings — the full Wildermuth sibling roster:

• Sandra Wildermuth Clement of Atlanta, GA
• Debra Wildermuth Massaro (husband Angelo, deceased)
• Robert E. Wildermuth, Jr. (wife Dawn) of Venice, FL

This is the full surviving-sibling list at the time of Terrie’s death — the four-sibling Wildermuth set (Sandy, Terrie, Debbie, Bob Jr.), with Terrie being one of two who pre-deceased the others.

Nieces and nephews:

• Nieces: Briana Massaro and Sarah Wildermuth
• Nephews: Gian Carlo Massaro, Trey Wildermuth, and Thomas Wildermuth

Five next-generation Wildermuth-and-Massaro cousins to Chuck. The Massaro branch (through Debbie and Angelo) produced Briana and Gian Carlo; the Wildermuth branch (through Bob Jr. and Dawn) produced Sarah, Trey, and Thomas.

What the obituary closes

Terrie’s death closed her generation’s central thread in this archive. The Wolfe-and-Davis household network that hosted her childhood holiday dinners (Betty, Norm), the Marietta College arc that brought her to her husband and Faye Angel’s Book Store, the Air Force traveling-family upbringing that took her to Japan, and the teaching career across Marietta’s elementary schools that closed her working life — all of them sit in this one obituary’s paragraphs. Within eleven months in 2014–2015 the family lost Charlie (26 Nov 2015), Norm (9 Jan 2015), Betty (18 Jul 2015), and Ben Bain (21 Dec 2014); within another seventeen months Terrie followed.

Memorial service: Saturday 8 July 2017 at 2:00 PM at Hadley Funeral Reno Chapel, 1021 Pike St., Marietta.

Source: Hadley Funeral Home obituary, May 2017. Transmitted by Chuck Eesley 2026.