Bernadine M. Hansen 1927-2014

HANSEN

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 12/21/2024 at 23:00:53

Bernadine M. Hansen
(September 20, 1927 - September 14, 2014)

Bernadine Marie Hansen entered eternal rest at the Pomeroy Care Center on September 14, 2014 as her granddaughter, Madeleine Hansen, played and sang the song "Someone To Watch Over You". At the exact same time, Mary and Karl Moeller had gone to the family farm and were observing and videoing a huge flock of Monarch butterflies taking flight in their migration south. The butterflies had only been seen at the farm on Saturday and Sunday. Bernadine had been surrounded by family and friends the entire previous week while in the hospital and while at the care center. She died from complications after suffering a fall the Monday before her death. While in the Intensive Care Unit, Bernadine celebrated her birthday and the September birthdays of her daughters, Cindy and Sherry and her sister-in-law, Shirley Essing. Family members enjoyed birthday cake and lemonade provided by one of the nurses who worked in that unit. The day before her fall, Bernadine cherished a full day of activities with her friends and family at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Pomeroy. After moving into Scuyler Assisted Living, Bernadine enjoyed visiting with other residents and was well cared for and loved by those who worked there. Bernadine Marie Hammen was born September 20, 1927 on a farm near Jolley, IA and grew up with nine brothers. Because of her large family, she learned how to bake thirty loaves of bread on Saturdays in preparation for school lunches the following week. She and her mother would spend an entire day washing clothes, often by hand, and hanging them on the clothes line to dry. Then, at the end of the day, they would gather them up and put them away. Bernadine often told how she would scrub the floors in the house only to have her brothers immediately track over them with dirty shoes. She would cry and her mother would briefly console her and then encourage her to continue on. During the summer and fall harvest, Bernadine gathered produce from the gardens and trees and helped her mother prepare it for future use. There were also the daily meal preparations she often helped with. Her most dreaded job was pulling potatoes from the potato bin only to get her hand around a rotten potato. She experienced what it was like to watch her brothers go into military service, be sent off to war, and wait, wondering if they would ever return home again. Bernadine graduated from Jolley High School, attended college briefly, but came home because she was homesick. She then worked in the County Treasurer's Office and as a Dental Assistant. Bernadine married Wayne E. Hansen on June 2, 1949, at St. Francis Catholic Church in Rockwell City, IA. Together they farmed and raised livestock near Knoke, Iowa. Bernadine took special interest in "her livestock". She raised sheep for wool and sold their lambs, raised and butchered chickens for eating, cared for laying hens and sold the eggs, and sold German Shepherd puppies. Wayne and Bernadine started a private manufacturing business, Hansen Mfg. in Jolley and later moved the business to a larger location in Pomeroy which then became Hansco, Inc. She prided herself in "keeping the books" for the manufacturing business as well as for seed sales and the farm business. Bernadine played the organ at St. Mary Catholic Church for many years. In 1992 they sold their business and retired to their newly built home in Pomeroy where Bernadine enjoyed gardening, canning produce, participating in activities in her church and following their grandchildren's sports and music activities at school. Wayne and Bernadine lived in their home until June, 2014, when they moved into Scuyler Place Assisted Living in Pomeroy, IA. Survivors include her husband, Wayne of 65 years; daughters Cynthia Marie and husband Gordon Loots of Pomeroy, IA; Sherry Idelle and husband Tom Kutz of Holt, MO; Mary Lou and husband Karl Moeller of Kearney, MO; son John Wayne and wife Debbie of Cedar Rapids, IA; and brother Norman Dean Hammen of Waukee, IA. She was also survived by13 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents Zeno and Bertha Hammen, and brothers: Earl, Donald, Keevan, Emmet, William, Hubert, Zeno Jr. and Dale. Copyright Lampe & Powers Funeral Home, (712) 464-7665, www.powersfh.net