Bernice Donna Jestrab passed away peacefully on Jan. 9, 2011, in Kalispell, at the age of 92.

Bernice was born Bernice Buhring on Feb. 20, 1918, in Chester, the daughter of homesteaders Andy and Mabel Buhring. They moved to Havre before she was 3, and she graduated from Havre High School. She then worked for several years at Woolworth’s.

She met and married Johnny Jestrab on Aug. 1, 1940, and established a home in Havre where Johnny worked for the Great Northern Railroad as a brakeman and conductor. There she raised five children and entertained numerous friends, neighbors and family in a home filled with lots of love, laughter and good food.

After dinner, when the table was cleared and the dishes done, she and Johnny would organize games at the dinner table. Depending on the crowd, they would play Go Fish, 7-Up or King’s Corner. As the kids and grandkids got older, they brought out pinochle, cribbage and an assortment of board games. There was always a jigsaw puzzle in the kitchen corner.

Bernice crocheted numerous afghans and quilts for her family.

She and Johnny were married for 57 years when he passed away on Dec. 19, 1997. Together they camped and fished in the Bear Paw Mountains, Glacier Park and at all the reservoirs in northern Montana. They motor homed throughout the states and Canada. For years they were active members of the local Good Sam Club. They wintered for many years in Yuma, Ariz., and had many good friends there.

In her spare time, Bernice volunteered several times a week at the Northern Montana Hospital, the Lutheran home and St. Jude’s Catholic Church.

Bernice was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Johnny; daughter, Karen Ann Wills; and two sisters, Mildred Winsor and Evelyn Wilham.

Bernice is survived by one sister, Mary Rona Anderson, of Lakeport Calif.; two daughters, Sylvia Piatt of Bellevue, Wash., and Diane Compton and Grant of Whitefish, and two sons, Jack Jestrab and Perdita of Auburn, Wash., and Dr. Robert Jestrab and Carol of Havre. Also surviving are 10 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.

Services for Bernice will be held in Havre at a later date.

Johnson-Gloschat Funeral Home and Crematory is caring for Bernice’s family. You are invited to go to www.jgfuneralhome.com to view Bernice’s guest book, offer condolences and share memories.