Bachman's mourns a beloved CEO

At Bachman's flagship store on Lyndale Avenue in Minneapolis Sunday, a giant array of flowers and a poster commemorating the life of Todd Bachman stopped customers as they walked in. Behind the memorial, the wall was lined with historic photos of the four generations of Bachmans that built their iconic Minnesota company.

"Now, sadly, this is part of our history, too," said Larry Pfarr, director of marketing, waving his hand at the poster and flowers. Bachman, 62, the company's chief executive, was stabbed to death in Beijing on Saturday, the first day of the Olympics, apparently at random.

His wife, Barbara, also was stabbed by the Chinese assailant, who committed suicide immediately after the attack. Initially in critical condition after undergoing eight hours of surgery, she was upgraded to stable condition this morning.

In response to the attack, Chinese authorities added security at tourist spots in the already buttoned-down capital city.

Police said the man who apparently killed Bachman was distraught over family problems.

In 2006, his wife divorced him. According to Xinhua, the Chinese news agency, that ended his second marriage.

With the Farmington couple was their daughter, Elisabeth (Wiz) Bachman McCutcheon, 30, a 2004 Olympic volleyball player, former Lakeville High School standout and the wife of U.S. men's Olympic volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon. She was uninjured.

The attack came on the heels of the dazzling Opening Ceremony. Employees at the 29 Bachman's stores were in mourning, while in China, many were stunned.

At the time of the attack, the Bachmans were in a crowd visiting the Drum Tower, a historic site in Beijing.

Todd Bachman was a few steps behind his wife and daughter when he was attacked by a man identified as Tang Yongming, 47 and unemployed. When Barbara heard Todd being attacked, she went to him and was also stabbed. Their assailant then leaped to his death from a balcony of the Drum Tower.

Barbara Bachman was in intensive care at Peking Union Medical College Hospital. Her other children, Sara McGregor, 36, and Susan Bachman West, 34, arrived in China Sunday.

Wang Wei, vice president of the Beijing Olympic organizing committee, said Chinese investigators believe Saturday's attack was an isolated incident and suggested such random acts are difficult to prevent. There was no indication the assailant knew his victims had any connection to the games.

"Beijing is a safe city, but, unfortunately, we are not immune to violent acts," he said.

Tang, who had no criminal record, according to Chinese officials, had been laid off from a meter factory in the central city of Hangzhou and then briefly worked as a security guard. Two years ago, he was jobless again and living alone in a rented room with no furniture and no future.

Chinese angered by attack

Friends and former co-workers said he was irritable, unmoored and unable to find his footing in China's surging economy. They characterized him as angry at being left behind by China's headlong rush into an economy that lacks the succors of the Socialist past.

A widely circulated anonymous posting on a popular Chinese Internet site seemed to capture the prevailing worry: "Your actions have hurt not just two Americans, but they have hurt the way Americans will view China during the Games, the way all the people of the world will view China. The bright dream of these momentous Olympics has been darkened by you. ... Even if you had ten thousand excuses, the Chinese people will never forgive your actions."

Todd Bachman was a great grandson of the immigrant German who in the late 1800s bought 4 acres in what is now south Minneapolis and started selling vegetables.

According to employees working Sunday, he was one of the most beloved of a long line of Bachmans who have continued to run the floral and garden centers. "I don't think that in 20 years I ever saw him mad," said Pfarr. "You could always go to him with anything, and he would always listen."

He was named CEO in 1994 but shared control with his cousins, overseeing 1,300 employees at 29 locations.

Rick Mierva, who has worked at Bachman's for 31 years, said his phone started ringing early Saturday. Employees and people in the nursery business all over the country called to find out if the news was true. Employees said Todd Bachman had a gift for making them feel they were part of the Bachman family.

"He's been to Florida with us on buying trips," said Mierva, in charge of buying the company's annuals. "He's been with us traipsing through those broken-down greenhouses in the heat. He never played executive. He enjoyed it."

Jon Logue met Bachman while working at Department 56, a giftware company Bachman's started.

"He was always very interested in what you were doing," he said. "He was the first person to give you encouragement."

He always pitched in as needed, Logue said. While setting up the post-Christmas sale this year, Logue and Bachman kidded each other about how they still hadn't mastered the skill of packing complicated Department 56 product boxes.

Sunday afternoon, shopper Alice Mauren, of Burnsville, stopped to read the memorial. "We come here a lot," she said.

"It's a tragedy for the business and the family," she said. "The people in Minnesota feel like this is a family member that this happened to."

Todd Bachman "was one of my closest friends,'' U.S. Olympic women's volleyball player Robyn Ah Mow-Santos said in Beijing. She was a teammate of Elisabeth Bachman in the 2004 Olympics. "I lost my mom in February, and [the Bachmans] were there for me.''

Stacy Sykora, another U.S. player, said the team was sleeping when Bachman was killed. They were awakened by team staff and told of Bachman's death.

"You have to understand what [Elisabeth Bachman] is for USA Volleyball,'' Sykora said. "She is like the best person in the U.S. volleyball world. He was just a great man. I have not just one memory, but a million memories.''

On Sunday, men's volleyball players huddled for a moment of silence, and then set out to do what little they could to ease the pain of their grieving coach.

They were determined to play their best -- for their coach and for his in-laws, all of them devoted fans. Despite a mid-match letdown, the American men persevered in the opening round, defeating Venezuela 3-2.

Whether McCutcheon, a New Zealander, will return to coach during the Olympics remains to be seen; his players want him to follow his heart and feel no obligation to them.

"We may see him and we may not," team captain Tom Hoff said. "That's completely all right with us. He has other priorities."

For updates on this story, go to www.startribune.com. Information is also available at www.bachmans.com.

Staff writer Rachel Blount, the New York Times and Associated Press contributed to this report.