Viise, Neva (Bjonerud) 1931 - 2015

VIISE, BJONERUD, FALNES, MILLER, MUELLER

Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 10/8/2015 at 10:58:09

Neva Viise, age 84, of Decorah, IA, died Tuesday, September 29, 2015 at Vennehjem in Decorah, IA.

Funeral Services will be 11:00 a.m., Saturday, October 3, 2015 at Calmar Lutheran Church, 200 East Street, Calmar, IA, with Rev. Phillip Olson presiding. Burial will be in the church cemetery.

Visitation will be after 9:00 a.m., on Saturday morning at the Church.

Neva was born on September 18, 1931, to parents Robert and Edna (Falnes) Bjonerud of rural Calmar. Neva was baptized on October 4, 1931 and confirmed on June 4, 1944 at Calmar Lutheran Church, attended Conover School, and graduated from Calmar High School. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in elementary and music education from Luther College in 1954. In 1957, as a teacher for Department of Defense schools, she was assigned to Pepperrell Air Force Base near St. John's, Newfoundland, where she met her future husband, First Lieutenant Michael G. Viise, a Lutheran chaplain in the US Air Force. They were married on June 21, 1958 at Calmar Lutheran Church. As a military spouse, Neva made a home for her husband and children in numerous places in the US and overseas until Michael retired from the Air Force in 1985 and they moved to Charlottesville, Virginia. After retirement, Neva remained as active as ever. She directed the choir and taught Vacation Bible School at St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Charlottesville, and returned to school to obtain a doctorate in education from the University of Virginia in 1992. She accompanied her husband to Estonia on his mission to establish a modern military chaplaincy and lived there from 1995 to 1998. In Estonia, Neva taught English composition and speech at Tallinn Pedagogical University and Concordia International University Estonia and became a master teacher for the Open Estonia Foundation, a George Soros initiative providing training and mentoring for teachers in Estonia. Meanwhile, Neva was an avid reader, a quilter, a prolific and meticulous seamstress, a wonderful cook, a caring member of her church, and a loving mother and grandmother. In the summer of 2014, she and her husband moved to Decorah, Iowa, to be closer to her hometown and the family farm.

Neva is survived by her husband, Michael Viise, and her four children, Lina Miller (Edwin) of Independence, Kansas; Diane Viise (Cynthia) of Elmhurst, Illinois; Michelle Viise of Somerville, Massachusetts; and John Viise (Laura) of Oak Park, Illinois. She is mourned by her 10 grandchildren: Kirsten and Anna Miller; Peter, Andrew, James, and Emily Mueller; and Gustav, Lars, Darrell, and Johann Viise. Sister: Ruth Bjonerud of Calmar. Her caring presence, intelligence, humor, and sense of adventure will be missed by all.

Neva is preceded in death by her parents and her brothers-in-law, Ants Viise and Jaan Viise.

Source: Schluter - Balik Funeral Home database

Calmar Lutheran Cemetery
 

Winneshiek Obituaries maintained by Bruce Kuennen.
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