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Bernice

Bernice Hastert

Bernice Hastert, 97 years old, of Alton, IA, passed away Monday, May 12, 2014 at Orange City Health System Hospital in Orange City, IA.
            Funeral service will be at 10:00 a.m., Saturday, May 17, 2014, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Alton, IA with Rev. Terry Roder officiating with Revs. Paul Eisele and Ken Lulf concelebrating.  Burial will be in the St. Mary’s Cemetery in Alton.  Visitation will be anytime after 4 p.m. on Friday, May 16, 2014.  There will be a parish rosary at 5 p.m. and a vigil prayer service at 7 p.m. all at the St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Alton.  Services have been entrusted to Fisch Funeral Home & Monument in Remsen, IA.
            Bernice began her life on Feb. 24, 1917, the daughter of Peter Francis and Eva Mary (Diederich) Jonas Sr., on thefamily farm five miles south of Alton, IA. Her German-Luxembourgian ancestors homesteaded the farm in 1884. She loved being part of a large family and growing up on the farm. She attended for one year the nearby one room country school, followed by grade school and high school at St. Mary’s Academy in Alton. In her latter school years, she would drive to school with her sister, Joanie, in a Model T coupe with her job being to turn the crank to start it. She graduated in 1934 at the height of the Great Depression. One of her favorite subjects was Spelling and throughout her later life she wrote weekly letters to each of her four grown children.
            On June 28, 1941, she married Charles Elmer Hastert, a neighbor on a near-by farm. They were happily married for 39 years and raised four children together. As a mother and homemaker, Bernice loved to garden, cook family favorites, and spending time with family and friends. In her later years she enjoyed learning to crochet and made numerous beautiful afghans for family and friends. As she aged she kept her mind sharp by daily reading and cross-word puzzle working. All through her life her faith was very important to her. She was a strong prayer warrior for many, always willing to include family and friends in her prayers. In December 2012, at the age of 95, she moved to Heritage House (then to Prairie Ridge Care Center) in Orange City, proud to have been self-reliant and able to live so many years in her own home. Her sense of humor, strong faith, warmth and friendliness to all will be greatly missed.
            Grateful for having shared her life are her children: son, Charles Joseph (Judy) Hastert Jr. of Green Bay, WI; daughters, Mary Ann (Arthur L.)Roberts III of Palo Alto, CA, Jane (Lynn) Braband of Rochester, NY, Nancy (Richard) Willert of Yankton, SD. Grandchildren:  Rob Roberts of San Francisco, CA, Jane (Bryan) Kirk of Palo Alto, CA, Mary (Nicholas) Palhegyi of Chicago, IL, Elizabeth (Steven) Cullum of Rochester, NY and Joseph Braband of Rochester, NY. Step-grandchildren: Jon (Lisa) Willert of Gretna, NE and Julie (Wayne) Huber of Gayville, SD. Great-grandchildren: Katherine and Eli Kirk, Cameron Torres, Eva and Noah Palhegyi and Ella, Audrey and Liam Cullum. Step-grandchildren: Cameron (Stephanie) Stark, Nick, Trevor and Brittney Huber.
          Surviving siblings include her sisters, Jeanne Schneider of Albuquerque, NM and
Charmaine (Ross) Johnstone of Lake Arrowhead, CA; sister-in-law Dorothy Jonas
of Remsen, lA and brother-in-law Donald (Annette) Hastert of Minnetonka, MN and
numerous nieces and nephews.
          Preceding her in death were her parents, husband Charles in 1980; two sisters, Mildred
Sanders and Joanie Stanley and four brothers, Victor, Ike and Peter Jr., Aloysius (Buddy) and Zeno Jonas as an infant.
          Casket Bearers will be: Joseph Braband, Jim Stene, Jim Jonas, Matt Jonas, Jeff Jonas, Wes Budden.
          Special thanks to Dr. Allen Laird and his nurse, Cheryl; to Fr. Roder; to Sr. Patrice; and the staff at Prairie Ridge Care Center and Orange City Hospital for their loving care.  Thanks, also, to all the family and friends that helped brighten and support her during
her life journey.
          Memorials may be directed to the Spalding Elementary School in Alton where Bernice
enjoyed being a volunteer in her younger years.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Bernice Hastert, please visit our flower store.

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