Bernadette "Bernetta" Bissen

Bernadette “Bernetta” Anna Bissen, of Hokah, Minnesota passed away peacefully on Thursday, August 20, 2015 at Gundersen Lutheran Hospital in La Crosse, Wisconsin. She spent her last days surrounded by family and friends. She was 98 years old.

Bernetta was born April 30, 1917 in Caledonia, Minnesota to Otto and Anna (Von Arx) Langen. She and her twin sister, Bernice grew up helping around the farm, where they fed the chickens, tended the yard and gardens, made hay and milked the cows. They loved to play in the corn crib, swim and skate on the Root River, have picnics with friends and family, and attend church and school socials. Bernetta saw the beginning and end of WWII and lived through the Great Depression. She graduated from St. Peter’s High School in Hokah in 1935 and on September 7th, 1943 she was married at St. Peter’s Church to Raymond L. Bissen. Bernetta and Ray always attended Sunday morning mass and then loved to go dancing and play cards with friends.

Bernetta learned to cook and can fruits and vegetables at a young age and enjoyed preparing meals and sharing food with family and friends. She always kept homemade cookies in the cookie jar for her children, grandchildren or anyone who might stop by and she loved helping her grandkids pick raspberries in her garden. For over 30 years she cooked at the Sidewalk Café in Hokah, where she was best known for her Wednesday roast beef and dressing and her coconut crème and lemon meringue pies. She continued to make pies for the restaurant well into her nineties.

Bernetta was a member of St. Peter’s Altar Society, Hokah American Legion Auxiliary and the Hokah Senior Citizens Club. She loved to write poetry about Hokah, the seasons and her pets and she could spend hours playing Scrabble with friends and family.

Bernetta was preceded in death by: her mother and father; her husband, Raymond Bissen; special aunts, Bertha and Sister Joachim Von Arx; sons-in-law, Jeff Stalsberg and Samuel Murray, and many other special family members and friends. She is survived by: her twin sister, Bernice Bernsdorf; daughters, Janice Stalsberg, Carol (Mike) Moore of Hokah, and Mary Jo Murray of Winona; sons, David (Barb) and Don (Sandy) Bissen, both of Hokah; grandchildren, Angie Bissen of Brownsville, Christina (Randy) Peterson of Hokah, Cindy (Craig) Warner of Chanhassen, Samantha Murray (Jason Burg) of Portland, Oregon, and Nicholas Bissen (Jen Albrecht) of Minneapolis; and great-grandchildren, Alissa, Courtney and Elliot Peterson, Meredythe and Meghan Warner, and Ryder and Willa Burg.

Bernetta felt very fortunate for the support provided by friends, family and caregivers that allowed her to stay in her home over the last few years. She felt especially grateful for the special time she was able to spend visiting and sharing meals with her twin sister over the last three months.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:30 a.m., Monday, August 24th, at St. Peter’s Catholic Church, with burial to follow in Mt. Calvary Cemetery, both in Hokah. Rev. Pratap Reddy Salibindla will officiate. Family and friends may call from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday at Schumacher-Kish Funeral and Cremation Services, 111 South Oak St., La Crescent, where a prayer service will be held at 6:45 p.m., and from 9:30 a.m. until the time of Mass on Monday at the church.