Bernice Bartels

Hills, MN        Bernice Bartels, age 95 of Hills, MN died Monday, February 22, 2016 at Tuff Memorial Home in Hills, MN.             Funeral will be 10:30 a.m. Saturday, February 27, 2016 at Steen Reformed Church in Steen, MN with Pastor Fred Wilgenburg officiating. Burial will follow at East Side Cemetery in Steen, MN.        Visitation will be Friday from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. with family present at the Jurrens Funeral Home of Hills, MN.      Bernice (Van Malsen) Bartels was born on February 28, 1920 at Steen, MN. She was the daughter of Otto and Minnie (Teunissen) Van Malsen.  Bernice was born, raised, and married in the same home.  She attended grades 1-8 in the Steen School.  She was the second of ten children.       She married Louis Bartels on December 2, 1938.  They moved to California after their marriage and worked on dairies.  Their first child, John, was born there.  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.  They had three more sons: Dale, Dean, and Randy.       Louis, her husband of 65 years, died on May 12, 2003.  After leaving the farm, Bernice moved to an apartment in Hills and then to a Luverne apartment.  She moved to the Tuff Home on 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 them with her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.  She also enjoyed walking, even at the Tuff Home.  She was baptized and a lifelong member of Steen Reformed Church.      She is survived by her sons, John (Sharon) Bartels of Ashton, IA, Dale (Sue) Bartels of Beaver Creek, MN, Dean (Janeane) Bartels of Brookings, SD and Randy (Suzanne) Bartels of Sloan, IA; along with seventeen grandchildren; 42 great grandchildren and 3 great-great grandchildren; two sisters, Mona (Ray) Rozeboom of Rogers, MN and Florence (Pete) Schouwenburg of Buena Park, CA; one brother, Otto Jr. (Evelyn) Van Malsen of Yourba Linda, CA; and sister-in-law, Jeanne Van Malsen of Hills, MN; and many nieces, nephews and other extended family  members.      Bernice was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Lou; sisters, Gertrude Feikema, June Beyenhof, and Evon Burdett; and brothers, John, Jay, and Roger Van Malsen.