Bernice Krog

Bernice Agnes Krog lived at home until she was almost 98. She drove a car until she was 97. She flew solo on airplanes and rode a three-wheel bike until she was in her mid-nineties. While her hearing was not the best in her later years, she could spot a bird or deer or person up to a mile away. And she never sat still if she could help it. 

Bernice was born May 15, 1923 to Otto “Ben” and Agnes (Fehland) Yonker in Bellingham, Minnesota. She was baptized March 25, 1925 in St. Paul, Minnesota and confirmed May 21, 1939 at English Lutheran Church in Bellingham. 

Bernice grew up in Bellingham, and graduated from Bellingham High School in 1941. She went to St. Paul for a year to work for Northwest Airlines, before returning home to help in her family’s locker, meat market, and grocery store, where she learned to be a meat cutter. She moved to Lake Benton in 1945 to help her family with their new meat locker and grocery store.

On June 29, 1947 Bernice married Howard Krog at Diamond Lake Lutheran Church in Lake Benton. Their union was blessed with three children and 63 years of life together, with Howard always referring to Bernice as his “bride,” even when he was 88 years old. The couple farmed on Howard’s home place near Lake Benton until retiring in 1976 and moving to a nearby acreage. Bernice continued to live there following Howard’s death in 2010, until she moved into the Lincoln Lane Villas in Hendricks in 2021. 

Bernice was a 4-H leader for 10 years, a member of Ladies Aid with Diamond Lake and Grace Lutheran, a Sunday School Superintendent at Diamond Lake, and she taught Sunday School and Vacation Bible School at Diamond Lake and Grace Lutheran. She was Chairwoman of Grace Lutheran Church Quilters for six years. Bernice loved to play softball and golf, and once got a hole in one from 107 yards. It happened on January 3, 1987 in Gladstone, Oregon. She was at the 8th hole of the Rivergreens par three golf course with her three iron. 

Bernice loved to sew and bake, and was unrivaled at both. In fact, no matter how hard anyone tried, even watching her from start to finish, no one could ever replicate her Hot Dish (she tended to “forget” to share key ingredients or actual amounts). She stitched clothes, pillowcase dolls, hot pad mitts, macramé purses, and beautiful quilts to name just a few of her projects. 

Bernice loved to travel to visit family and friends, flying to Arizona and Oregon to visit her daughters until she was in her mid-nineties. She was fastidious about cleaning–no speck of dust lasted long in her home and no skiff of snow had a chance to melt on her patio. And she was brutally efficient with a fly swatter. Bernice was always on the move, logging miles around her house and running up and down her very steep stairs multiple times a day. Forever on the move, she was given a “no running” sign at the Villas, and had to be constantly reminded of it. However, she would slow down for just a bit in the evenings to enjoy a “shot of wine.” 

Bernice is lovingly remembered by her children, Jerome (Beverly) Krog of Lake Benton, Minnesota, Becky (Mike) Alderman of Beaver Creek, Oregon, and Deanna (Rich) Rochel of Goodyear, Arizona; nine grandchildren (Jon, Kate, Korrinn, Heidi, Amy, Shelley, Suzy, Zach, and Jessi), and 23 great-grandchildren; and one brother, Roy (Marlene) Yonker of Tyler, Minnesota. She was preceded in death by her parents; five brothers, Melvin, Wilbur, Robert, Glen, Vern, and Leonard Yonker; two sisters, Verna “Honey” Nordmeyer and Lucille Williams; and one granddaughter, Allie Rochel Everding. 

On November 27, 2024, Bernice passed away peacefully at an incredible 101 years, 6 months, and 12 days. After waiting patiently for 14 years, Grandpa called home his “bride.”