Bernice Agnes Vandenberg, age 101, of Boutwell’s Landing, Oak Park Heights, MN and former long time resident of Wintergreen, Hudson, WI died on Saturday March 23, 2013 at Lakeview Hospital in Stillwater, MN. Bernice was born Christmas day 1911 on the family farm in Grant County, WI to Clement Edward and Anna Marie (Manemann) Brandt. Bernice attended Fairplay, WI grade school, graduated from St. Clara Academy, Sinsinawa WI, and received a teaching degree from what is now the University of Wisconsin, Platteville. She also attended the U of W Oshkosh and the U of W Green Bay.

Family and education were all important to Bernice. When her mother passed at an early age, she helped her father raise three of her younger siblings. After college, Bernice began her career teaching all 8 grades at her former elementary school in Fairplay WI. She married Louis Anthony Vandenberg, “Van” to his friends, at St. Raphael Cathedral, Dubuque, Iowa in Oct. of 1945. Her married life was spent teaching and raising her children Sharon and Richard in Green Bay, WI. She touched many 2nd and 3rd graders over the years at St. Johns, St. Philips, and Sts. Peter & Paul grade schools, all in Green Bay, lastly retiring from the Denmark Wisconsin Public Schools in 1976. To her dying day, she maintained friendships with many former students and colleagues and delighted in her children’s, grandchildren’s, and former student’s successes in life. As a matriarch of her family, Bernice was a strong guiding presence to her loved ones. She touched many generations and will be missed profoundly.

Bernice is survived by her children, daughter Sharrie (Jerry) Skerven of Jensen Beach, FL and son Dick (Sandy) Vandenberg of Stillwater, MN; grandchildren Louisa (Mike) Lienke, Wes (fiancé Kim McNally) Skerven, Alison Vandenberg, Kristin Vandenberg, and Brant Vandenberg; great-grandchildren Myah (12) and Lukas (7) Lienke and Henry Alden Jones (6); her sister Eilene Wedig; many special nieces and nephews; and special grand niece Sue Schwartz of River Falls WI. Bernice was preceded in death by husband Louie “Van”; sisters Cecelia Kruser, Stella Kruser, Edna Treganza, and Mildred Rhomberg; and brothers Alfred Brandt and Raphael “Ray” Brandt.

Mass of Christian Burial for Bernice A. Vandenberg will be held at 11:00am on Wed. March 27, 2013 at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, 1500 Vine St. in Hudson, WI with Rev. Fr. John Gerritts officiating. Visitation will be held one hour prior to Mass at the church, and also from 4:00-7:00pm on Tues. evening, March 26, 2013 with a Prayer Service and Sharing Time beginning at 6:45pm, at the O’Connell Family Funeral Home, 520 S. 11th St., Hudson, WI. Entombment and graveside prayer services will take place at 2:00pm on Thursday, Mar. 28th at the Allouez Catholic Cemetery Chapel and Mausoleum, 2121 Riverside Dr., Green Bay, WI. Services are in the care of the O’Connell Family Funeral Home of Hudson, WI. 715-386-3725