Bernadette Louwagie

Bernadette Marie was born December 26, 1924 to Henry and Gertrude (Peters) Bot in Grandview Township near Ghent. She attended St. Eloi Catholic School and graduated from Marshall Senior High School. For a time she attended St. Catherine's College in St. Paul, MN. She met her husband, Maurice, at a wedding dance of mutual relatives. They were married on December 30, 1946. The couple stayed with Maurice’s parents on his family farm for one year before moving to their own family farm near Green Valley. There they raised eleven children. Bernadette loved life on the farm, enjoyed working in the fields and tending to the garden. She cherished her family, teaching them to always be generous and welcoming of new life. She had a strong faith, praying the rosary every day and attended daily Mass in retirement. She also sang in the choir and participated in parish life. She spent many hours of polka dancing and square dancing with Maurice and friends at area ballrooms. They were members of the Jolly Mixer’s Square Dancing Club. She loved playing cards, crocheting, and had a special interest in crossword puzzles. In 1991, after 45 years on the farm, the couple moved to Marshall to enjoy their retirement and wintered in Arizona for 15 years. Bernadette died peacefully with her family by her side on Thursday October 11, 2012 at the Prairie Home Hospice house. Her warm spirit and sense of humor will be greatly missed by her family; husband, Maurice; children, Catherine (Stephen) Kjorness of Westbrook, Christine Louwagie of Tempe, AZ, Laurell Louwagie of Geneva, Switzerland, Mark (Diane) Louwagie of Cottonwood, Marilyn (Chad) Crow of Woodbury, Pat (Dr. Patrick) Laedermann of Vevey, Switzerland, Ruth (Tim) Verschaetse of Faribault, Liz (Jay) Walterman of New Ulm, Matthew Louwagie of Minneapolis, Sandy (Dr. Martin) Mohr of New Ulm, and Chad Louwagie of Cottonwood. She was also loved and will be greatly missed by her 27 grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren. She was awaiting two additional great-grandchildren at the time of her death. She was preceded in death by her parents; sisters, Deborah (Hubert) VanUden, Helen (Bill) Davis, Beatrice (Edward) Van Nevel, and Theresa (Vincent) DeCock; brothers; John, William, and Fred Bot.