Bernice Nordseth, age 94, of Canby, MN, passed away Tuesday, August 13, 2024 at the Sanford USD Medical Center in Sioux Falls, SD. Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, August 20, 2024 at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in Canby, MN with Rev. Levi Bollerud officiating. Burial will be in the St. Stephen’s Cemetery in Canby. Visitation will be 5 – 7 pm with a 7 pm Prayer Service on Monday, August 19, 2024, at the Houseman Funeral Home, Birk Chapel in Canby and will resume Tuesday one hour prior to the service at the church. Houseman Funeral Home, Birk Chapel in Canby is entrusted with the arrangements.
Bernice Grace Nordseth was born on June 29, 1930, in Ivanhoe, Minnesota, to parents Clifford and Mathilda (Nyhus) Cummings. She was baptized and confirmed at Bethany Lutheran Church in Ivanhoe. Bernice graduated from Ivanhoe High School in 1948 and continued her education attending Normal Teacher Training in Canby, Minnesota. She then taught at the rural school District 36. Several years later she served as a paraprofessional in the Social Studies department at Canby High School. On November 12, 1949, Bernice and Duane Nordseth were married at Minnehaha Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They farmed in Norman Township rural Canby. They moved off the farm in 1992 and moved into Canby. Bernice was a long-time member of Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church. She served several years as a local election judge and worked in the exhibit office at the Yellow Medicine Country Fair. Cheering on the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Minnesota Twins, ballroom dancing, the Game Show Network, working crossword puzzles, and spending time with her family, especially her grandchildren and great-grandchildren of whom she was tremendously proud were some of the things she enjoyed doing. Each year Grandma B looked forward to the family’s Decade Party when everyone gathered for an afternoon and evening of competitive events.
Grateful for having shared Bernice’s life are her five daughters: Deborah (Curtis) Hoyme, Fargo, North Dakota; Sandra Club, Dawson, Minnesota; Deanna (Gerry) Greiner, Windom, Minnesota; Adaire (Tom) Ryan, Lees Summit, Missouri; and Amy (Tom) Gorder, Canby, Minnesota; her ten grandchildren and seventeen great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Duane; her parents, Clifford and Mathilda Cummings; her sister, Edyth Forseth; and her brothers Claude and Lloyd Cummings; and her son-in-law, Ken Club.
