Bernice Gallagher

Bernice Gallagher died on Sunday, July 18, 2010, at the Minnesota Veteran’s Home in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. She was 97 years young.  She was born on May 17, 1913, in Lake Prairie Township near Gaylord, Minnesota. She was the sixth and youngest child of Albert and Anna (Schwocho) Gierke. She grew up on the shores of Lake Jefferson and often claimed she had an ideal childhood. She attended rural schools and helped her father run a boat landing. By age thirteen she was driving the family car. She attended high school in St. Peter. Bernice married Robert Emmett Donahue of Mankato in 1931. They raised their five children in Mankato and in Janesville, where Mr. Donahue had a liquor store. Bernice worked for a few years as a telephone operator. In 1960 the couple divorced, and later that year Bernice married Robert J. Gallagher of Detroit, MI. They spent most of their married life in Kewanee, Illinois, where Mr. Gallagher worked for General Telephone. He died in 1987. Following her husband’s death, Bernice returned to Minnesota. She lived in Wells until 2005, when she moved to Otter Tail County and lived for three years in the homes of two of her sons, James and John Dennis.Bernice was raised Lutheran, but became a Catholic in 1939. She was active in St. Ann’s Church in Janesville. She taught religion to first grade students, sang in the choir, and was an officer in the women’s organization. She also belonged to the town’s Mothers’ Study Club. She loved animals, especially birds and dogs, and she was known for her ability to train dogs. Bernice was preceded in death by her siblings: Louis, Ida (Bartlett), Otto, Elsie (Scholtz), and Albert; by her son, Robert W. Donahue, by her great-grandson, Michael Todd Donahue, her son-in-law, Dale Rucker, and by many nieces and nephews. She is survived by her daughter-in-law, Ann Donahue of Scottsdale, Arizona; her daughter, Janice (Dale) Rucker of Wells, and her sons, James (Sharon) of Otter Tail County, Michael (Marlene) of Mankato, and John Dennis of Queretaro, Mexico. Also surviving are 19 grandchildren, 34 great-grandchildren (along with six step-grandchildren), and five great-great-grandchildren. Funeral services will be at St. Ann’s Church of Janesville, MN on Saturday, July 24, 2010, at 11 a.m. There will be a visitation in the church one hour before the funeral Mass. Olson Funeral Home in Fergus Falls assisted with local arrangements. Condolences may be sent online at www.olsonfuneralhome.com .