Bernadine Mary Kirsh Keltgen, age 90, of Redwood Falls, passed away on Saturday, October 24, 2020 at Prince of Peace Retirement Community in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. A Private Mass of Christian Burial will be at St. Catherine’s Catholic Church with interment at St. Catherine’s Cemetery in Redwood Falls, Minnesota. The Funeral Mass Service will be live streamed on YouTube under St. Catherine’s Catholic Church. Arrangements are with Nelson-Hillestad Funeral and Cremation Service of Redwood Falls.
She was born in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota on December 11, 1929 to immigrant parents Frank and Anna (Wawra) Kirsh. She was raised on the family farm near Milroy, Minnesota and graduated high school there in 1947. Soon after high school she moved to Redwood Falls, MN and began working for Northwestern Bell Telephone Company. There she met her future husband Cy, and they were married on October 20, 1951. Bernie liked to stay busy and after retiring from the phone company, where she worked for 30 years, she worked for the Farm Credit Services, Jackpot Junction, and REM. Bernie had a special gift for numbers and could recite most any telephone number in the local area. She enjoyed playing in many bridge and card groups, going to the Redwood Senior Center, knitting and cross stitch. She volunteered as an election judge, and spent many late nights counting ballots. Bernie also volunteered with Meals On Wheels and at the Redwood Falls Food Shelf, where she also served on the board. She was an active and faithful member of St. Catherine’s Catholic Church. In 2019 she moved from her home at Garnette Gardens to Prince of Peace Retirement Community in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Bernadine is survived by daughters Barbara and husband Tom Parliman (Sioux Falls, SD) and Paula and husband Mark Bonine (Maple Grove, MN); sisters-in-law May Kirsh, Griselda Keltgen, Gloria Ahlstrand, Virginia (Harry) Yasko; many nieces, nephews, and dear friends. She was preceded in death by her husband Cy; brothers Paul Kirsh and his wife Fern, twin brother Bernard Kirsh, and sister Lydia Flett and her husband George; brothers-in-law Carroll Ahlstrand, Glenn Keltgen, Roger Keltgen and his wife Minnie.
