Bernice Belle Fish Witmer (1900-1986)

BOWEN, CUMMINGS, FISH, GEARHART, RICHARDSON, SEALINE, TORY, WITMER

Posted By: Dennis and Gail Bell (email)
Date: 9/11/2005 at 14:25:50

WITMER, BERNICE BELLE FSH (MRS. HARLAND HARDING) (1900-1986)

Nevada Public Library obituary file, Nevada, Iowa, NEVADA JOURNAL, October 1986.
“BERNICE BELLE FISH WITMER. – Bernice Belle Fish Witmer, 86, died Saturday, Oct. 4, 1986, at Story County Hospital, Nevada IA. She was born Aug. 11, 1900, near Maxwell IA, to Isaac and Flora Gearhart Fish. She was one of eight children, six girls and two boys. She attended Maxwell schools and graduated from high school in 1919. Following high school graduation, she was employed by the Maxwell Telephone Exchange as a telephone operator for approximately 12 years. She was married to Harland Harding Witmer on June 10, 1933, in Webster City, IA. Following her marriage, Bernice and Harland resided on a farm southwest of Maxwell. They lived on that same farm until Harland suffered a stroke in June 1976. Bernice and Harland then moved into an apartment in Maxwell for the next few years. During most of the 1980’s they both were residents of the Long Term Care Facility connected to Story County Hospital in Nevada IA. Harland still is an LTC resident. Bernice never held a regular job outside of the Witmer home. She is remembered for her dedication to her family and all the help she was willing to give to others. She enjoyed life and being around people. Threshers used to marvel for days at the meals that Bernice prepared for harvest time. Her hundreds of recipes are still satisfying the appetites of her past friends and relatives. As a part time job, but more of a hobby, Bernice worked several summers at Camp dodge near Des Moines to cook for the Methodist Church Youth Camps. Bernice was a member of the Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith at Waterloo IA, as many of the Fish family were. She attended church regularly at the United Methodist Church in Maxwell. She was a member of the United Methodist Women’s Society and several ___ card clubs. Bernice and Harland could often be found in the crowd at high school baseball games in Perry, where their son, Dean, served as baseball coach for 14 years. The got to know Dean’s players, and always looked for them in the crowds. This was also a good excuse to be near her two grandchildren, who spent many hours with their grandparents. Bernice is survived by her husband, Harland; a son, Dean, a high school guidance counselor in the Perry Community Schools; two grandchildren, Julie, a speech pathologist in the Mesa Schools, Mesa AZ, and Michael, an aerospace engineer with Boeing Corp., Seattle WA, and a sister, Beulah Richardson, who resides in Maxwell. Preceding her in death were her parents, an infant daughter (Kay Ann), four sisters, Rosa Sealine, Flossie Tory, Nina Bowen and Stella Cummings, and two brothers, Lee and Arthur Fish.”

BURIAL: Iowa Historical Library, Des Moines, Iowa, Vol. IX, GRAVE MARKER INSCRIPTIONS, Indian Creek Township, Inc. City of Maxwell, Story County, Iowa, Maxwell Municipal Cemetery, section 1, row 22, plots 4 & 5. Plot 4 - Kay Ann WITMER July 1935; Plot 5 - WITMER Bernice B 1900 - 1986 Harland H 1901 - 1988.