Rebecca "Becky" Bauer Mitchem was born on the Qualla Boundary, North Carolina, on August 15th, 1928, to Catherine Dotterweich Bauer and Fred Blythe Bauer. She died peacefully during an extended visit to Friendswood, Texas, on August 28, 2020. She was 92.
After a formative childhood on the Qualla Boundary, she moved to Dunkirk, New York, on the shores of Lake Erie. She then returned to North Carolina, where she earned her teaching degree at Western Carolina University. Taking her first teaching job in Lowell, she moved into the Teacherage in Lowell, North Carolina, where she met and married Wade Mitchem Jr, raising their sons Mark and Paul in Lowell.
During Becky's long career as a teacher, she worked at various schools in Gaston County, including Chapel Grove, Lowell, McAdenville, Sacred Heart, and finally as a reading teacher at Kiser Elementary in Stanley. After retiring from public school at the age of 62 she immediately began working with GED students in conjunction with Gaston College. She continued this phase of her teaching career until the age of 85. At that time she moved to Asheville, engaging in such activities as river rafting, outdoor music events and yoga.
As a teacher, she was proud of the accomplishments of her students over the decades, taking her role in those students' accomplishments very seriously and with quiet pride.
She was a member of the Lowell Presbyterian Church, and spent many years as a pianist at The McAdenville Methodist Church, later attending Asbury Methodist Church in Asheville.
She made good friends all along the way. She set an example and instilled in her sons the best and kindest facets of her Christian faith.
Preceded in death by her husband Wade W. Mitchem Jr., she is survived by their sons Paul and Mark Mitchem, and Mark and Kimberly Mitchem's children Annie and Noah.