Bernice R. Hagemann, 96, of Peoria, Arizona, passed away October 12, 2017. She was born May 25, 1921 in Freeport, Illinois, to Clifford and Vera Gallup.
Growing up on a farm in Egan, Illinois, with her parents, her grandmother and two brothers, Keith and Don, she was surrounded by family throughout the farming community, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. and attended her first eight school years in a country school taught by her mother’s cousin. She advanced quickly and entered Leaf River H.S. a year earlier than her classmates.
She met Earl at the United Brethren Church in Egan, and they married in 1939. Their first daughter, Dana Cecile, was born in May 1943, and soon after Earl was drafted to fight in WWII. Her brother, Keith, was also drafted about the same time in WWII so she and her sister-in-law, Virginia, lived together – Mom working as a waitress and Virginia caring for Dana and Virginia & Keith’s newborn son, Edward. After The War was over, Earl fulfilled a dream and became a jeweler and watchmaker, as an apprentice for Howard Palmer in Minonk, Ill. where the family lived for two years. Soon after, they opened a retail store in Pecatonica, Ill. and named it Gallup & Hagemann’s Jewelry & Hardware Store. Bernice’s father, had the hardware part. A second daughter, Carla Cay, was born in 1954 and had asthma as a young child, so in 1961 doctors advised them to move the family to Phoenix, AZ, to help her asthma. Bernice worked as an office person for Superlite Block manufacturing plant in Tempe, and Earl worked for Paul Johnson Jewelers, and eventually for Setterberg Jewelers. After working as an office manager for Babcock Electric, she retired to baby sitting with her granddaughter, Samantha, playing golf several times a week with friends, reading romance novels, and creating stained glass art pieces.
Earl died in November 1992, and she married a family friend, Robert Whittlesea, in 1994. They spent summers in England, Robert’s home, and winters in Phoenix until Robert’s death in January 1999. In 2009 she moved to The Beatitudes Care Center, in independent living. Eventually her sister-in-law, Virginia, joined her there and once again they lived together for several years. Virginia passed away a few weeks ago in Illinois with her family present.
Bernice is preceded in death by her parents, Vera & Clifford Gallup, her husband Robert Whittlesea, her husband Earl Hagemann, and son-in-law, John C. Faris.
Bernice is survived by her brother Donald Gallup (Alene), her daughter Carla Zeluff (James) and granddaughter, Samantha, and also her daughter, Dana Faris Dean (Joseph), grandson, J. Craig Faris (Cecelia), granddaughters Susan Faris and Kim Dean Myren (David), 10 great-grandchildren, 11 great great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. In 2015 she moved to the D & L Group Home in Peoria.
1921 - 2017 (96 years)
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