Frances Helen von Seggern Bach, BHS 1969

Frances Helen von Seggern Bach 

Well done, good and faithful servant Frances went to be with the Lord on December 29, 2015, after a two-year struggle with a brain tumor. She was born on May 26, 1951 in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Ernest and Helen von Seggern of Burbank. She attended Miller Elementary School, Muir Junior High, and Burbank High School. Frances began playing cello in elementary school and was a student of Joseph DiTullio. She continued her study of the cello at Whittier College and California State University, Northridge, where she earned a Master of Arts in Music in 1979. She also studied the viola da gamba with Shirley Marcus at UCLA and Carol Herman of Claremont, California.

While at Whittier College, Frances gave her life to Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. She was active in the College Life group at Whittier, at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, and at Kaysville Bible Church in Utah, where she played cello and piano, led the adult choir and handbell choir, and served as an AWANA leader and a deaconess. 

Frances met her husband Phil in 1979 at Grace Community Church. They were married in 1981, and made their first home in Burbank. Julie was added to the family in 1986. In 1987, Phil began working as a clinical chemist at Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City and the family moved to Utah. Soon after the move, Amy joined the family in 1988. 

Frances’ musical activities were many and varied. She played cello in the Edmonton Symphony in Alberta for three seasons beginning in 1973. While living in Burbank, she began playing viola da gamba and baroque cello with the Los Angeles Baroque Players, without doubt her favorite musical activity. She continued playing with the LABP after the family moved to Utah, flying several times a year to Los Angeles for concerts. Soon after moving to Utah, Frances played a year with the Utah Symphony, and played occasionally with them after that. As Julie and Amy grew in their musical ability, Frances greatly enjoyed playing with them for church services, weddings, and community events. 

When Frances wasn’t making music she home-schooled her daughters from kindergarten through twelfth grade. She also greatly enjoyed camping and hiking with her family and exploring scenic and historical places, from national parks near home to London and the Swiss Alps.

Frances is survived by her husband Phil, daughters Julie and Amy, mother Helen von Seggern, and brothers Ernest and Albert von Seggern. Memorial services for Frances are scheduled for 11:00 on Saturday, January 9, 2016 at Kaysville Bible Church, 181 N. Flint Street (the southwest corner of 200 North and Flint) in Kaysville, Utah; and for 11:00 on Saturday, January 16, 2016 at the Burbank First United Methodist Church, 700 North Glenoaks Blvd in Burbank, California. Services entrusted to Lindquist’s Bountiful Mortuary.