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Berneil "Bernie" Anderson | Service:
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
10:00 AM
Silvernale-Silha Funeral Home
221 N. Meade Ave
Glendive, MT 59330
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| | | Berneil "Bernie" L. Anderson, 82, died at his home on Wednesday, October 5, 2005 in Glendive, Montana.
A Life Tribute Service will be held 10:00 A.M., Wednesday, October 12, 2005 in the Chapel of the Silvernale-Silha Funeral Home with celebrant Sandy Silha officiating. Interment will follow in Dawson Memorial Cemetery in Glendive. Silvernale-Silha Funeral Home of Glendive is entrusted with arrangements.
Bernie was born February 25, 1923 in Larson, North Dakota the son of Matt and Lottie Anderson. He was raised and educated in Larson. Bernie marred Loraine Young on January 12, 1950 in Minot, North Dakota. They moved to Glendive in 1959 where Bernie was employed by GTA Elevator for 25 years until his retirement at age 62. Following his retirement, Bernie continued to work for Cenex as a clerk at a local convenience store. When Loraine became ill, Bernie left his employment to be a care provider for her. Loraine preceded him in death in 1993.
Bernie served on the board of directors for RSVP from January of 1997 until December of 1999. He enjoyed doing home projects and especially enjoyed traveling to see his daughter and spending time with her family.
Bernie was also preceded in death by three brothers and one sister.
Bernie is survived by his daughter, Cathy Abbenhaus and her husband Ralf of Gillette, Wyoming; four grandchildren, LaRae McKee and her husband David of Estes Park, Colorado, Dionne Abbenhaus and Michael Abbenhaus both of Gillette and Jennifer Abbenhaus of Denver, Colorado; one sister, Donna Lawrence and her husband Morris of Minot, North Dakota and numerous nieces and nephews.
Eulogy by Celebrant Sandy Silha:
Self-reliant and practical, a quiet, private man with a keen sense of humor, Berneil “Bernie” L. Anderson lived a simple, steadfast life. For 82 years, Bernie, worked hard, took care of his own, remained healthy and independent, and was an involved and important person in the lives of his family.
Bernie was the fifth of six children born to Matt and Lottie Anderson. Bernie’s younger sister, Donna, remembers him as “a cute little rascal” with curly blonde hair, big eyes and long, dark eyelashes. Donna found it annoying how many times he got out of doing things he was supposed to do by using his charm, humor and just by being foolish. She tells about Bernie being sent to clean his bedroom by his mother and instead of cleaning, Bernie would get into a big closet in there that his mother had old clothes stored in, get all dressed up in these old-fashioned things, including a fancy hat with a feather plume, and coming out to entertain the family. He didn’t get his cleaning done but no one seemed to mind. Bernie played a lot with his siblings, simple games and such, but he loved to make them laugh. Bernie was a good mimic and would get them all laughing by mimicking some of the old bachelors from around town. He was also, a typical brother, who would pick on his little sis. One year before Christmas, Donna had surgery and had stitches in her stomach. She got to come for the holidays and every one in the family was happy that she would be home for Christmas. “Berneil” as Donna still calls him, realized it hurt her to laugh, so he worked to get her laughing as much as he could, until his mother had to step in and put a stop to it, for fear Donna’s stitches would open. Donna loved his sense of humor and, well, Bernie was just fun to be around.
Bernie was raised and educated in Larson, ND and it was in high school that he began dating the love of his life, Loraine Young. Bernie was standing in the hall at school with some friends one day when Loraine walked by. Bernie stopped Loraine and asked her to feel his heart. Loraine reached over and felt Bernie’s heart and it was just pounding. He told her that it did that whenever she walked by. They dated throughout high school, broke up temporarily after high school, got back together and became engaged on a New Year’s Eve. Bernie and Loraine were married January 12, 1950 in Minot, ND. Bernie and Loraine raised a daughter, Cathy. They moved to Glendive in 1959. Bernie was employed by the GTA Elevator until he retired at age 62. Cathy remembers her dad coming home from work, and the first thing he would do is take off his work boots and dump the wheat out of them. Another memory of Cathy’s from her early years was of her dad dancing. Bernie’s mother had taken her kids to dances when they were growing up and taught them to dance, and Bernie continued that in his home, dancing with his two ladies around the house. Cathy thought her dad a handsome man and his sister, Donna, remembers him being fussy about the way he looked. He always looked as neat as a pin, and Bernie’s favorite item of clothing was a blue oxford shirt.
You may have noticed at the foot of Bernie’s casket the little signs “101% Norwegian.” and 101% Swede. Bernie was Norwegian and Loraine was Swede. They would tease each other and go back and forth over this all of their married life. Bernie enjoyed being Norwegian. He would go up to Minot, stay with his sister Donna and take in the Hostfest. And being true Norwegian, he loved lutefisk. He even tried to keep the tradition going in the family by sending his granddaughter, LaRae, instructions on how to prepare lutefisk. It must have been the Swede in LaRae that made her just wrinkle her nose.
After Bernie retired from GTA, he worked for a local Cenex store for a few years, until Loraine became ill. Bernie then became Loraine’s caregiver until her death in 1993.
After becoming a widower, Bernie kept to himself a good deal. He liked to putter around his home, and he was, throughout life, a good mechanic who liked to tinker on cars. He referred to modern cars, tin cans. One thing Bernie did get involved in for several years was the Retired Senior Volunteer Program at the Senior Citizens Center. Bernie served on their board and he enjoyed helping with their fair booth each year. The RSVP group would make and sell fry bread. He eventually had to stop working the fry bread booth when it became difficult for him to be on his feet for long periods of time. But he continued to support the fry bread effort every year either with a money donation or bag of sugar. Everyone enjoyed working with this quiet man who just got things done.
It was also during these past years, that Cathy has treasured the special relationship and friendship that she and her Dad developed. Bernie liked to get out of town every so often, and would drive to Wyoming to spend time with Cathy and her family. They would visit and go out for dinner. She would keep his favorite treat on hand, beer and Cheetos to share with him. Cathy and Ralf even got Bernie interested in Nascar. Each had a driver they followed and they gave Bernie, Dale Jarrett to cheer for. Bernie became a fan. One of the other things Bernie enjoyed about his visits with Cathy and Ralf was all of Ralf’s power tools. Ralf would invite Bernie out to the shop to see any new tools, and Bernie always spent time out there playing with these toys. Something Bernie wasn’t quite as excited about was the motorcycle Cathy and Ralf rode, although last year, Ralf even got Bernie to take a ride on that with him. After trying it, Bernie thought even that was okay. But the highlight of his visits with Cathy and her family was his grandchildren. Bernie was very proud of them. His granddaughter, LaRae, remembers visiting her grandparents in Glendive. Papa was funny and entertaining and she specifically remembers him trying to eat peas off a knife and getting them all over the place and then complaining to Loraine that he needed honey to keep them on the knife. LaRae also recalls her grandparents watching baseball, betting quarters on the games, and then sitting together and bumping and jabbing each other over the plays made by the teams. Although LaRae loved her Papa, she didn’t like Papa’s mustache, and to give him a kiss, she would lean way around the side of his face. When LaRae married David, Bernie made a point of telling David just how proud he was of LaRae. He also made a point of calling David’s Colorado state trooper hat a dented hubcap.
Another granddaughter, Dionne, enjoyed the way Papa would tease her. When Papa came to visit in Wyoming, he usually left on Monday. Cathy would go to work, and that’s when Dionne would have Papa all to herself. She loved this one on one time with her Papa. They would talk and have breakfast together. She would walk him out to his car and he invariably would slip her a $20. What Dionne will miss most are his hugs. Papa would just wrap her up in himself. Those hugs were wonderful.
Sometimes, Cathy and Ralf would visit Bernie here in Glendive. Bernie was so self reliant and independent that he liked to do everything for himself. It was hard for him to let Ralf and Cathy help him and he would only let them if he absolutely couldn’t do it or didn’t know how. And that was not often. They were here to visit Bernie the week-end before he died. In hindsight, they are so glad they came, because there was no indication this would be their last time together. They spent time with Bernie, had a beer, took Bernie to dinner at CC’s because they knew he liked to go there and just had a good visit.
Berneil “Bernie” L. Anderson died in his home, here in Glendive on Wednesday, October 5, 2005. This independent, self-reliant, quiet gentleman will be greatly missed.
This loving, tenderhearted, fun loving father, grandfather, and brother will be long remembered.
As we listen to the song “Amazing Grace”, let us remember and be thankful for having had Berneil “Bernie” Anderson as part of our life.
Song: “Amazing Grace”
Celebrant
A man’s legacy is measured by the gifts he leaves behind. Bernie’s legacy is that he gave of himself to each member of his family. Bernie’s daughter, Cathy, and his granddaughters, LaRae and Dionne, will come forward to light a memory candle in honor of their father and Papa. After the lighting of the memory candle, Dionne will share the thoughts she has written about her Papa.
Celebrant
Bernie was a very private man. Today we have shared memories about Bernie. Continue to share your thoughts and memories with each other in the coming weeks and months. Remember Bernie in your heart and in your thoughts, because it is with these shared memories of love, conversations, and experiences that Bernie will always be with you.
We have one last memory of Cathy’s to share. When Cathy was growing up, the house they lived in was quite small. When you came in through the kitchen, there was a hall that separated the two bedrooms, one on each side. In the hall, one of the floorboards creaked a bit when stepped on. Cathy knew which board this was. Now Cathy was a good girl, but one night she was late getting home. As she quietly maneuvered down the hall to her room, trying not to disturb her parents, she was startled, to say the least, when her dad suddenly burst into song, singing Chattanooga Choo Choo.
It took a panic stricken minute before she realized, he was singing in his sleep. Cathy did tell Bernie about this, just not right away.
Let us end Berneil “Bernie” Anderson’s life tribute service with the song he loved and sang, even in his sleep.
Song: Chattanooga Choo Choo
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