Elois Bernardy

Elois was born in Dempster, South Dakota on March 4, 1928. She left us quietly on June 21, 2010 after suffering a stroke from which she never regained consciousness.

She was the sixth child of Jacob and Marie VanZwol. She is preceded in death by her four sisters and two brothers, an infant daughter Christine, her son Steve and her husband of 61 years, Lloyd.

She is survived by her brother-in-law and sister-in-law Mac and Ruth Bernardy, her son and daughter-in-law Ken and Kathy Bernardy, daughter and son-in-law Judy and Dave Crnich, former son-in-law Jim Bjornstad, granddaughters Jana Logan (Gordon), Kristen DeBie (Jonathan), Jessica Elenbaas (Ben), Jasmine Bernardy, Erin Bernardy and Emma Bernardy and grandsons Luke Bernardy (Yuri) and Steve Bernardy (Sara), as well as 16 great grandchildren who called her Grandma Great.

Elois graduated from Meridian High School and later, while raising her family went back to school, receiving her LPN Degree in 1967. She worked as a nurse for 10 years and upon leaving the nursing profession she opened and ran her own ceramic shop.

Never afraid of hard work, she raised their family and ran their small farm by herself during the years that Lloyd worked away from home. She was selfless and always willing to roll up her sleeves and help, or in later years take care of grandchildren and great grandchildren any time she was called. Over the years she took in various friends or relatives in need of a place to stay or being nursed back to health. After the death of her son Steve, and in appreciation of the care he received, she made a commitment to give blood. In her lifetime she donated over ten gallons of blood.

Elois was funny and spunky and loved music and singing. Part of a square-dancing group in earlier years, she and Lloyd danced beautifully together, something we all enjoyed watching. She was also very creative; in addition to ceramics she did beautiful china painting and went on a European tour with a china painting group. She sewed and knitted for years and we all treasure the quilts she made for us and our babies.

At Christmas we will so miss her ollie bollen, almond sticks and peanut brittle. And we will miss her pies.

She was brave and had an adventurous spirit. Whether dressing up as Marilyn Monroe on Halloween or parasailing in Mexico at age 80, she was up for a good time and fear didn’t hold her back.

She was a woman of strong opinions, she knew her own mind and wasn’t afraid to tell you what she thought. She was also stubborn and completely loyal. Trustworthy, she always kept a secret or a promise; you could rely on her absolutely.

Although she hardly ever spoke of it, she was a faithful Christian. Strong in her belief, she held Jesus in her heart and enjoyed attending church regularly, often going alone.

Recently her life was blessed by a very special friend, Merton Conn. She and Mert traveled, read, walked on the beach, collected rocks and simply enjoyed each other’s company. We are all so grateful for the loving relationship they shared and how it enriched her last few years. Thank you Mert, we know how much you will miss her.

Services are being held at Moles Funeral Home, 2465 Lakeway Drive, Bellingham, on Friday the 25th of June at 1:00 p.m. You may share your thoughts and memories of Elois in the online memorial guest book at www.molesfuneralhomes.com.