Bernice Phillips Bergfeld

Bernice P. Bergfeld, age 87 of Seguin, passed away on August 8, 2012. Visitation will be held on Sunday, August 12, 2012 from 2 to 4 p.m. at Tres Hewell Mortuary. Funeral services will be conducted on Monday, August 13, 2012 at 11 a.m. at Tres Hewell Mortuary Chapel with Rev. Jeremy Roy officiating. Interment will follow in Dugger Cemetery. A reception will follow at Emanuel's Lutheran Church Fellowship Hall. Bernice was born on July 19, 1925 in Seguin, Texas, to Hardy and Ida Mae Darling Phillips. She is preceded in death by her loving husband of 64 years, Henry Edsel Bergfeld, Sr. (June 4, 2012), her parents, and her siblings, Garland Phillips, Lucille Reneau, Wilburn Phillips, Clifford Phillips, Ruth Owen, Lola Elley, Glenn Phillips, Hardy Phillips Jr., and her identical twin, Bula O'Toole Walpole. Survivors include her children, Henry Edsel Bergfeld, Jr. and wife Susan, Richard Allen Bergfeld and wife Cindy, George King Bergfeld and wife Edna, Col. Thomas Lee Bergfeld, USAR(Ret.) and wife Kari, and Bonnie Bernice Cheatham and husband Billy; twelve grandchildren; twelve great-grandchildren; brothers-in-law, Doug Walpole, William A. Bergfeld, Jr.; sister-in-law, Virginia Woods; numerous nieces, nephews, cousins. Her twelve grandchildren will serve as pallbearers. Bernice and Bula, the "Twins", as well as most of the 10 children in the Phillips family, were raised east of Seguin and attended Tiemann School. She and Bula were, for the most part, inseparable growing up and together they serviced airplanes during World War II at Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio. Bernice and Edsel met in 1946 at the Silver Dollar (a well-known restaurant at the time), and were married on Oct. 25, 1947, at the First Methodist Church (a German Methodist Church) on Mountain Street. They were the last couple to be married there before the building was torn down. After they were married, they moved to Corpus Christi, where Bernice became very busy raising the kids. She always supported her husband, volunteering for duties in organizations where he was also active. Whether it was at Aldersgate Methodist Church, the American Little League, the Boy Scout Troop or the Carpenters Ladies Auxiliary she was always a busy lady. And yet, Bernice was never too busy to make sure that she fulfilled one of her other passions; she could often be seen loading up the kids to go on a fishing expedition. As her husband's career advanced, in 1972, they pursued an opportunity to get back to the Seguin area. Bernice used this move to open Bergfeld Tool Rental, which catered to many of the local and regional Contractors, Businesses, and Do-It-Yourselfers. Many of these folks remember the friendliness and expertise that Bernice and Edsel shared during their ventures into the "rental shop". Bernice and Edsel spent their last 5 years together in the Nesbit Living and Recovery Center. The family wishes to give a "Very Big Thank You" to the Nesbit workers, and now friends, that loved and served them during their time there. Memorial contributions may be made to the Boy Scouts of America or to the charity of one's choice.