Bernadine Joyce Fry

Bernadine Joyce Fry, the daughter of Harry Harold Fry, Sr. and Viola Lucille (Brensel) Fry, was born on April 30, 1940 on her parents’ farm in rural Audubon County, and died unexpectedly on January 27, 2021 at the Audubon County Memorial Hospital at the age of 80 years, 8 months, and 28 days.

Bernadine grew up on the family farm, one of seven children. She attended rural school at Melville #9 through eighth grade before moving to Audubon High School for ninth through twelfth grades, where she graduated with the High School Class of 1960.

Following high school, she worked for Garst in Coon Rapids, Iowa for five or six seasons, after which she transferred to work at Waltons in Atlantic, Iowa for about five years until around 1975. Her next job took her to Jaydons, in a manufacturing position for another five years. Following Jaydons, Bernadine worked for Wells in Manning, Iowa, manufacturing car parts for several years before working for Gus Construction in Casey, Iowa, where she was a flag operator for 26 years, from 1990-2015. After taking a short break from working, Bernadine returned to work for a short time to the Blue Grass Inn at the Waspy’s complex in Audubon before retiring from there in 2018.

If there’s one thing Bernadine’s family would say about her, it’s that she always wanted to help people as much as possible. And if she saw someone she knew out and about, she always made time to chat and catch up with them. She loved reading, especially her romance novels – something she shared with her sister Mary, whom she lived with. She was also fond of doing word searches, baking (it’s said her Rice Krispie bars and coconut cream pie couldn’t be rivaled), and playing with all the little kids in the family, all of her nieces and nephews. Any time Bernadine and Mary had the house to themselves, though, you would find them reading their books with old western television shows on in the background like Bonanza and Gunsmoke. She was happy until the very end.

She was preceded in death by her parents, and her sister, Nora Jean Bertelsen.

Survivors include her brothers and sisters: Mary Fry, Donna Fry, Robert Fry, and Emerson Fry, all of Audubon, Iowa, and Harry Fry, Jr. of Sedalia, Missouri; her special niece, Ruby Runte of Council Bluffs, Iowa; her special cousin, Karen Thompson of Cherokee, Iowa; her many nieces and nephews, whom she considered her grandchildren; and other relatives and friends.

Funeral services will be held on Wednesday February 3, 2021 at 2:00 P.M. at Kessler Funeral Home in Audubon, Iowa with Reverend Philip Beisswenger officiating. Interment will be in the Maple Grove in Audubon. There will be an open viewing on Tuesday, February 2, 2021 from 9:00 A.M. until 7:00 P.M. at the Kessler Funeral Home in Audubon. The family will not be present for the viewing. Honorary casket bearers will be Rebecca and husband Ben Uren, Nevaeh Gross, Roger Merk, Jesse Olsen, Brett Irlmeier, and Tim Andersen. Casket bearers will be Linda Gross, Jonathan Gross, Jackie Gross, Phillip Gross, Lathan Davis, and Tom Nelsen.

Bernadine's funeral service will be livestreamed on KESSLER FUNERAL HOMES INC. Facebook page.
1. You will need a Facebook account to view the service, and make sure you are logged into Facebook.
2. To get to our Facebook page, return to our website at www.kesslerfuneralhome.com, scroll to the bottom of any page and click the circle "f" button, which will take you directly to our business Facebook page.
3. We begin the live feed of the service 2-3 minutes prior to the start of the service, so anytime before that, you will NOT see the video. If you refresh your Facebook browser at the time of the service, the video will appear right at the top of the page for you.
4. If you experience difficulties viewing the broadcast at the time of the service, please understand we must conduct the service and are not available to assist with troubleshooting. The recording will remain on our Facebook page for additional viewing opportunities, and you can call us at the funeral home and we would be happy to help you locate the video after the service has ended.