Madeline Joan Berry age 86 of Tracy, MN died Tuesday, October 7, 2008 at the Prairie View Healthcare Center in Tracy. Services will be 10:30 AM Friday, October 10, 2008 at the Church of Christ in Tracy. Visitation will be from 4:00 until 8:00 PM Thursday, October 9, 2008 at the Almlie Funeral Home in Tracy, with a prayer service at 7:00 PM and continuing one hour prior to the service at the church on Friday. The Almlie Funeral Home of Tracy is handling the arrangements.
The family requests that memorials be given to either the Church of Christ or the Serving Hands Auxiliary of Prairie View.
Madeline Joan Berry was born July 25, 1922 to Roger and Madeline (Drumm) Knowles in Tracy, MN, Lyon County. She was baptized and confirmed in the St. Markâs Church in Tracy and attended Tracy Public Schools. Joan graduated from Tracy High School in May of 1940 and then attended Mankato State College in Mankato, MN, before enlisting in the WAAC (Womenâs Army Air Corp) on September 9, 1942. In August of 1943 it became the Womenâs Army Corp and she served as an Administrative NCO in the WAC Detachment 1486th SCU in Florida. On March 1, 1945 Joan received her Honorable Discharge with the rank of 1st Sgt.
On June 23, 1944 Joan married Quentin Berry in Monroe, NC and they made their home in Upper Saddle River, NJ. Joan worked as a bakery manager at a Grand Union Supermarket in NJ for twenty seven years, until her retirement in 1985. That year Joan and her husband moved to Tracy. Shortly after their move Quentin died and Joan remained living in her home on Lake Shetek near Tracy.
Joan was a member of the Church of Christ in Tracy where she had been active in the churches womenâs groups in the past. She also was a member of the American Legion and a volunteer for the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). Joan enjoyed flower gardening and spending time with her family and friends.
In 1997 Joan became a resident of the Tracy Nursing Home and in December of 2007 she moved to the Prairie View Healthcare Center in Tracy, where on Tuesday, October 7, 2008 she died at the age of 86.
Joan is survived by her two daughters, Joan âSkeeterâ (Peter) DeMattia of Upper Greenwood Lake, NJ and Donis Wood of Hamburg, NJ; two grandsons, Kevin DeMattia and Frederick Ohmen; two great granddaughters, Sarah Stapel and Tessa Ohmen; three sisters, Joyce (John) Visker of Tracy, MN, Betty (Richard) Ross of Oroville, CA and Judy (Hal) Soyez of Grapevine, TX; one brother, David Knowles of North Mankato, MN; many nieces, nephews, cousins and a host of friends.
Her husband, Quentin, her parents, one grandson, Baby Boy DeMattia, three brothers, Gordon, Dennis and Louis Knowles and two sisters, Annie Martin and Patricia Ruppert preceded her in death.
The family requests that memorials be given to either the Church of Christ or the Serving Hands Auxiliary of Prairie View.