On February 14th, 1920, a baby girl was born to John Borgemoen and Amanda (Floden) Borgemoen in (Hoard) Curtis, Wisconsin. She joined her brother, Marv and, later on, brother Vic. When Bernita turned 9, she and her family moved to Zeona, SD, north of Newell, SD. There she started 4th grade and Dad (John) started to build the first two-story Sod house in Western South Dakota. She loved it out there, but times were tough. She graduated from 8th grade and then went on to High School in Newell, where she lived in a boarding house with her best friend, Adie. They stayed friends till her passing in her 90's.
In 1938 Bernita graduated from High School and the family moved back to Wisconsin, but she had met a young man, Rudy Jaskela, at a dance at Horse Creek. He stayed in her heart but figured she would never see him again.
She worked as a maid in Chicago in the winter and the summers she worked at the Sunflower Lodge, a resort by Tomahawk Lake. In December of 1942 the world was at War and a cousin showed her a list of soldiers that needed pen pals and she saw the name "Rudy Jaskela!!! That has to be him! So, she sent him a letter and it was history from there on. He asked her to marry him and she moved to California and they had a very nice Military Wedding on April 11, 1943, at Camp San Luis Obispo. It was a short honeymoon, as of July of that year Rudy was sent overseas. Bernita was left alone so she went to work at the Northrop Corporation to work on the P38 Aircraft to install gun turrets as a Rosie the Riveter. Her favorite job ever. The war ended in 1945 and Rudy rushed to Bernita's arms and grabbed his bride. He could not get to Newell fast enough and start a life on a farm. They lived in several places till they found their home on Horse Creek. In this process they had four children; Lu Onna (Lu), Judy, Jerry and Marilyn. They sold the farm in later years and moved into the town of Newell. They did not like the town life so bought a place outside of town where her son and his wife still live. Rudy died in July of 1976 in a tragic accident and she was lost. She moved into town to a few places and then to Spearfish in 1997, to the Maple Apartments, where she lived for 17 years. It was here she met Chuck Ahartz; a great companion till his death in 2013. They loved going to Deadwood alot and she loved visiting with her friends and family.
In September of 2014 she was starting to fail and moved to Burrs (Tender Care Assisted Living) in Spearfish, where she had her final moments. They loved her and all her crocheting and her stories. They took wonderful care of her. She was well known for her dancing, crocheting (Pot Holders), all crafts/wood work, and her years of gardening. She always had the prettiest yards wherever she lived.
She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Rudy; brothers and their wives, Marv and Julia Borgemoen, and Vic and Mary Ann Borgemoen; and best friend, Chuck Ahartz.
She shared her life with her family which is Lu and Jerry Heater, Albuquerque, NM, Judy Jaskela Mayer, AZ, Marilyn and Steve Bocksnick, Dewey, AZ, and Jerry and Shawn Jaskela, Newell, SD. Her two grandkids and great grandkids; Trinity Jaskela and Amy Rounds and his three boys, Corbin, Cash, and KLaus Jaskela, all of Spearfish SD; Brandi and Ethan Andrews and their 4 daughters, Lilly, Leida, Lucy and Lainey Andrews, all of
Boulder City, NV; five nephews and their wives and their Children in Wisconsin.
A memorial has been established to the Spearfish Senior Center, Spearfish, SD.