Garrett Todd Bach died on May 24, 2026 at the age of 35 years in Rapid City, SD.

Garrett was born in Royal Oaks, MI to Brian Bach of Rapid City and Cheryl Wheeler of Englewood, FL. Garrett graduated from Lead-Deadwood High School in 2006 and the University of South Dakota in 2022.

Garrett enjoyed the outdoors, hiking in the Black Hills, fishing along Rapid Creek, rock hunting, and exploring old mines (especially if they were super scary). Garrett’s passion for nature led him to found Rapid City’s Seed Library in 2023.

Garrett was passionate and curious about many subjects including history, geology, birding, plants and gardening. As a child, his initial dream job was to fly helicopters onto the top of laboratories to rescue animals. He settled on working in places where he could make a difference in his community without the risk of flying to the rescue. Garrett will always be remembered for the many deep, humorous, and sometimes agreeably-disagreeable conversations he had with loved ones and friends. This was his most beloved pastime. In his final years, Garrett struggled with addiction, a disease that eventually took his life.

Garrett is survived by his parents, Cheryl and Ron Wheeler and Mahala and Brian Bach; brothers Dylan Bach, Jibri Bell, and Keegan Struble; sister-in-law, Swati Shrestha; grandmother, Cheyne Cumming; uncle Jeff and aunt Trish Bach and aunt Kipenda Ritcherson.

Memorials may be given to the Rapid City Library Foundation.