Bernice I. Epping, formerly of Kenosha, WI, died April 9, 2024 in Eagan, MN, at the age of 101.
She was the daughter of the late Jacob and Mary (Buechner) Welker and was born October 13, 1922 in Brighton, WI. She attended St. Francis Xavier Grade School and Burlington High School. She worked in the kitchen at Burlington Hospital, then got a job at the telephone company in Milwaukee.
She married Eugene H. Epping at St. Francis Xaviar Catholic Church on October 20, 1945. They lived in Brighton for three years, Union Grove for 11 years, Brighton again for another four years and then moved to Kenosha in 1963 where she was a homemaker as they raised their six children. She moved to an apartment at St. Joseph Villa in Kenosha in 1999 where she enjoyed life there as well as volunteering her services at St. Catherine’s Hospital and in the Kenosha schools. Bernice spent the past five years at Stonehaven of Eagan Senior Living. She was an active resident and leaves behind many treasured relationships. She was a lifelong devout Catholic.
Survivors her children, Barbara (Robert) Johnson, Antioch, IL, Edward (Marilyn) Epping, Mitchell, IN, Diane Doksus, Climax Springs, MO, Joanne (Joseph) Rusche, Eagan, MN, Mary Ellen Shaffer, Crittenden, KY, and Robert (Lynn) Epping, Eden Prairie, MN, her 20 grandchildren, her 35 great children and her two great-great grandchildren.
She is also survived by two sisters, Henrietta Hankes, Beaver Dam, WI, and Mary Ann Babich, Vernon Hills, IL, as well as many nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, three brothers, Leo, Leonard, Jerome and three sisters, Isabelle Knauft, Eleanor Cline, and Rita Ensminger, as well as two sons-in-law, Joseph Doksus and Timothy Shaffer.
A Mass of Christian Burial for Bernice will be held on Saturday, April 20th at 11:00 a.m. at St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Church (2020 – 91st Street). Entombment will follow at All Saints Mausoleum. Visitation will be held on Saturday from 10:00 a.m. until the time of Mass.
