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Bernice Bartels

Lead Summary

Bernice Bartels, 95, Hills, died Monday, Feb. 22, 2016, at Tuff Memorial Home in Hills.
A funeral service was Saturday, Feb. 27, at Steen Reformed Church in Steen. Burial followed at East Side Cemetery in Steen.
Bernice Van Malsen was born Feb. 28, 1920, to Otto and Minnie (Teunissen) Van Malsen in Steen. She attended school through the eighth grade in the Steen School.
She married Louis Bartels on Dec. 2, 1938, in her parents’ home. The couple moved to California after their marriage and worked on dairies. After a couple of years they moved back to the Hills area and started farming. In 1948 they moved to their farm west of Hills. Her husband died May 12, 2003. Bernice moved to an apartment in Hills and then to a Luverne apartment.  She moved to the Tuff Home July 3, 2009.
Bernice enjoyed gardening, working with flowers, quilting, writing in her journal, volunteering at the local school, and in her later years she took up oil painting.  She painted for many years, sharing her paintings with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She also enjoyed walking, even at the Tuff Home. She was a baptized and lifelong member of Steen Reformed Church.
She is survived by her sons, John (Sharon) Bartels of Ashton, Iowa, Dale (Sue) Bartels of Beaver Creek, Dean (Janeane) Bartels of Brookings, South Dakota, and Randy (Suzanne) Bartels of Sloan, Iowa; 17 grandchildren; 42 great-grandchildren; and three great-great-grandchildren; two sisters, Mona (Ray) Rozeboom of Rogers, and Florence (Pete) Schouwenburg of Buena Park, California; one brother, Otto Jr. (Evelyn) Van Malsen of Yorba Linda, California; and a sister-in-law, Jeanne Van Malsen of Hills; and many nieces, nephews and other relatives.
Bernice was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Lou; sisters Gertrude Feikema, June Beyenhof, and Evon Burdett; and brothers John, Jay, and Roger Van Malsen.
Arrangements were by Jurrens Funeral Home in Hills, www.jurrensfuneralhome.com.
 (0303 F)

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