Bernice Gartner

A Funeral Mass for Bernice Gartner, 91, of Glen Ullin, will be at 11:00 a.m., Friday, March 12, 2021, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Glen Ullin. Fr. Jeff Zwack will celebrate the mass. Burial will follow at the Sacred Heart Cemetery.

Visitation for Bernice will be from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Thursday, March 11, 2021, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Glen Ullin with a Rosary and Vigil Service taking place at 6:00 p.m.

For those unable to attend, Bernice’s services will be livestreamed on the Stevenson Funeral Home website. Click on Bernice’s photo, select photos and videos, click watch webcast. The livestream will be active 15 minutes before the service.

Bernice passed away Thursday, March 4, 2021, at CHI St. Alexius Health, Bismarck.

Bernice was born on the family farm south of Beulah, ND to John and Katie (Zahn) Eberle. She was the third child of 6 children in the family. Bernice attended rural school south of Beulah.

On October 23, 1951 Bernice married John Gartner of Glen Ullin, ND at St. Benedict Church, rural Beulah. After marriage they lived on the original Gartner homestead southwest of Glen Ullin where they farmed and raised cattle. She remained on the farm her entire life and even though she was semi-retired at the time of her passing she took active interest in the everyday operations of the farm.

Bernice and Johnnie had two sons, Garyl and Joel. Garyl (Marlene) Mandan, ND has two daughters Maranda Gartner of Minot, her daughter Alexandra McCone of Bismarck, and Ashley (Danio) Fajardo and their sons Jayden and Austin of Bismarck. Joel (Ann) lives on the family farm.

Bernice was a very active person. She enjoyed gardening, planting flowers – especially pink petunias, rose bushes and geraniums. There were numerous bird feeders hanging around the yard so she could watch the birds through her windows. Finches and robins were two of her favorites but she knew the names of each kind of bird. There were always laying hens in the chicken coop and at one time had peacocks in there with them. Winters would find her embroidering dish towels and many of her family members were recipients of those sets. In earlier years Bernice painted many ceramic projects at the neighbors shop. She kept up on all the current events in the country and you could always have a discussion with her about what was happening in the world. Bernice subscribed to and read several magazines and also farm papers that came in the mail. Sunday noon meals were very important to Bernice and you could always count on mashed potatoes, farm-raised beef and dessert. Her specialty was homemade pie. You never left Bernice’s kitchen hungry. She used to say she should be buried with a paint brush in one hand and a paring knife in the other.

Bernice loved being outside; in early years it was painting buildings or corrals and even this year she mowed her yard and worked with her flowers and garden. Many days you could see Bernice on a small ATV looking at the cattle, crops, countryside and wildlife. She recently came up with a new place on the farm to plant flowers and hauled rocks on the ATV to make the border for that area and could see it from her kitchen windows. In early spring she was always eager to go with to see the baby calves. They were all cute to her. And she loved going to the truck and tractor pulls that her sons went to and participated in. She was right there on the sidelines cheering everyone on and the louder the noise the better.

Bernice and Johnnie were awarded the Morton County Soil Conservation Award in 1987 for their farming practices which included tree rows and grass waterways. They made many changes on the homestead and built a new home in 1971 and other farm buildings throughout the years. Bernice was a long time member of the St. Joe’s Christian Mother’s Circle, rural Glen Ullin.

Bernice is survived by her two sons and their families; her sister Celestine Weigum Hafner (Floyd Weigum) of Beulah; sister-in-law Mary Anderson; Dallas Oregon and all her many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by husband Johnnie in 2002; her parents and 4 siblings Joan (Arnold) Ahl of Chelan WA, Adam (Wendy) Eberle of Fargo, Ted Eberle of Wichita, KS, Ida (Jerome) Skalsky of Morana, AZ; and her little white dog, Peppi.

Bernice had some phrases she used all the time:
I think to myself…
Whatever…
But what are you going to do…
Make the best of it and go on…
And most recently: There will be better days.