Bernita Bruggeman

Bernita Marie Bruggeman, age 77, of Carroll and formerly of Arcadia passed away on Thursday, May 31, 2012 at Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines. A private funeral service will be held on Tuesday, June 5, 2012 at the Dahn and Woodhouse Funeral Home in Carroll with Pastor Ben Dose of Zion Lutheran Church in Arcadia officiating. Burial will be in the Arcadia Cemetery. Casket bearers will be her grandsons: Matthew McNelly, Jeremy Fineran, Doug Heithoff, and Nate McCarty, and son-in-laws Steven Holcomb, and Matt Mc Nelly. Born on December 30, 1934 at Carroll County, Iowa, and was the daughter of Harold and Amanda (Brockman) Koepke. As a girl Bernita was baptized and confirmed at Zion Lutheran Church in Arcadia. She grew up in Arcadia and graduated from Arcadia High School in 1953. Following high school she attended Buena Vista University. She was married to Clifford Bruggeman on April 17, 1955 at Zion Lutheran Church in Arcadia by Pastor Theo Tews. The couple made their home east of Arcadia. As well as being a homemaker, Bernita worked for several years at Vonnahme’s Bar and Grill in Arcadia and thoroughly enjoyed all the people she met. The couple moved to Carroll in 1999. She was a member of Zion Lutheran Church in Arcadia and she was very active in the Ehlers-Gerken Post of the American Legion Auxiliary. Bernita enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren and great grandchildren, going to coffee with her many good friends,her Shiatsu dog Sadie, gardening, and bicycling. Surviving are her two daughters: Diane Holcomb and her husband Steven of Des Moines and Lisa Mc Nelly and her husband Matt of Arcadia; a son Alan Bruggeman of Shreveport, Louisiana; seven grandchildren; and nine great grandchildren. Bernita was preceded in death by parents, her husband Clifford in 2006.