Amy Bedore

Amy Bedore (Bremenkampf), of Franklin Tennessee, passed away on Saturday, June 24, 2023. Her beautiful spirit is carried on by her husband Dan, children Samantha, Joey, and Allie, and the many friends and family members she loved so dearly. 

Amy, born in Dearborn, Michigan on March 19th, 1963, to Jackie and Warren Bremenkampf, was one of five children in her family. She grew up in Inkster, Michigan and enjoyed a childhood filled with neighborhood friends who played outside together until the streetlights came on, backyard pool parties, sleepovers, and camping trips up north to Petoskey State Park. Petoskey remained one of Amy’s favorite places throughout her entire life. 

Amy married the love of her life, Dan Bedore, in 1988. They welcomed three children to whom Amy devoted her time and life. She raised her children mostly in Ann Arbor, MI where she enjoyed the love of a close group of friends, neighbors and Church family. Amy was extremely family oriented and always did whatever was needed to support her loved ones. She was a self-professed home body and loved spoiling her family with delicious home cooked meals and meticulously keeping her house. After moving to Franklin, TN in 2011, rather than take lavish, long vacations, she enjoyed day and overnight trips by car around Tennessee and Georgia. She frequently drove north to see family and friends in Michigan and still loved to visit Petoskey in the summer. She also loved her more recently discovered private sanctuary at Lake Oconee, Georgia, where she dreamed of settling down. 

Smart and confident, Amy excelled in school and spoke her mind from an early age. Despite family and friends thinking she would become a lawyer, Amy had other ideas and took her affinity for numbers and majored in accounting at the University of Michigan. After graduating at the top of her class, she immediately earned her CPA and began working as a auditor. She took time off to devote to her children, later returning to accounting and developing a passion for the tax business while working at an Ann Arbor CPA firm. She started her own private CPA practice in April of 2015 in Franklin, TN. Only a few months later, Amy was diagnosed with breast cancer in July 2015 and, just one day after a double mastectomy, was back on her laptop doing client work. She missed one client meeting during her recovery. She was not a workaholic. She just truly enjoyed her work and only accepted clients she enjoyed working with. Amy loved being her own boss and was adored and respected by her clients, many of whom are custom home builders in the Franklin area. She built a successful practice. In 2020, Amy and Dan started a private investment residential home building business of their own, leaning on her years of experience working with clients in her CPA practice. Not only was she the business brains behind the business, she was the star of the show with personal connections throughout the building industry.     

In addition to her focus on family and career, Amy gave generously of her time and talents to her children’s schools as well as charitable organizations such as Backlight Productions, a community theater program for adults with developmental disabilities, and Tucker’s House, which helps families add accessibility modifications to their homes. Amy served on the Board of Directors for Backlight Productions and even catered fundraisers. She also gave generously, through her business, to support the ministry of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Nashville. Everyone who knew Amy marveled at how she was able to do so much for so many. 

Amy had a keen sense of humor, and she loved music, dancing, the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings books, and throwing parties for family and friends. She had an uncanny ability to remember even the most obscure one-hit-wonder music artists of the 1980s. She would readily admit she missed the 90’s music scene because she was raising kids and listening exclusively to Raffi.  

One of the greatest joys in her life was her pets -- especially her cats. You could often find Amy relaxing on her screened-in porch with cats curled by her side. She also enjoyed the company of her two dogs and even the chickens she raised, greeting them by name each day as she cared for them at her former Franklin home affectionately dubbed “The Bedore Chicken Ranch and Spa.” 

Amy was a loyal friend and a fierce advocate for her family. She supported and cared for her aging parents until their passing. Amy never shied away from any challenges that came her way, including the cancer that eventually vanquished her. She fought valiantly and entrusted herself to her doctors until it became clear that the time to fight was over and the time to turn herself over to and trust in the Lord had arrived. 

Amy slipped peacefully into the arms of her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, at home while surrounded by her family and with her beloved cats and dogs near her side.  

Amy is survived by her husband Dan Bedore; her three children, Samantha Bedore, Joey Bedore, and Allie Bedore; her siblings Donna (Paul) DeGrazia, Brian Bremenkampf, and Susan Casey; brother-in-law Ed (Jackie) Bedore; and father-in-law Ed Bedore. 

Amy was preceded in death by her parents Jacqueline and Richard Warren Bremenkampf; sister Karen Ohlmstead; and mother-in-law Delores Bedore.  

A celebration of life for friends in Franklin will be held in July at a date to be determined. An additional celebration for family and friends in Ann Arbor, Michigan, will be held in August followed by a private family service in Petoskey, Michigan, which will be her resting place.  

In lieu of flowers, her family recommends a kind donation in her memory to Backlight Productions https://backlightproductions.org/give/  and/or Tucker’s House  https://tuckershouse.org/donate/ . WILLIAMSON MEMORIAL FUNERAL HOME & CREMATION SERVICES. 615-794-2289. www.williamsonmemorial.com.