1921
Joan
2013
Joan "Hap" Bergwall
June 8, 1921 — July 30, 2013
Joan "Hap" Bergwall, 92, died July 30, 2013 at her home in Red Wing, MN. She was the firstborn to Fred and Rae (Constance) Hays and grew up in Lamar, MO, a small town near the Arkansas border. After graduating high school in 1939, she obtained her nursing certificate and worked at Kansas City General Hospital, Kansas City, MO.
Soon after war was declared, on a lark, she and two fellow nurses journeyed to Portland, OR to join what would become the 46th General Field Hospital. She was promoted to a 2nd Lt. in the Army Nurse Corps, assigned to the Surgical Section of the 46th, and served overseas from 1943 to 1944. Lt. Hays first met George Bergwall, of Cambridge, MN - an officer in the Quartermaster Corps, also attached to the 46th - when she complained the footwear issued her was too small. On a convoy ship bound for North Africa, one night on deck, Lt. Hays was getting so giddy with this adventure that Lt. Bergwall joked he should just call her "Happy." Hap as she was thereafter known, married George in Oran, Algeria in 1944.
Hap was soon discharged and moved back to Lamar, where she gave birth to her daughter Joan. When George returned in 1946, the three moved to St. Paul, MN and lived on-campus while he finished his degree at Hamline University. They built a small tract home in South St. Paul and added four boys - Andy, Richy, Kenny and Billy.
When George was hired by Red Wing Shoe Company in 1956, they bought a big old house on a large lot. Besides wrangling five wild kids she singlehandedly rehabbed the home and developed her passion for restoration and gardening. They joined First United Methodist Church when they moved to town, and Hap faithfully sang in the choir and served with the women's auxiliary. The couple hosted regular bridge parties, and her bicycle group took the name "Vash Day Veelers" when they rode the Sparta-Elroy Bike Trail on opening day, 1967, and an old German woman they met wondered, "Vat you ladies doing? It's vash day!" Hap was invited into PEO (Chapter P) Sisterhood in 1969 and hosted many meetings in her home. In 1981 George died at home, of ALS.
Hap and friends opened River Peddler Antiques in the St. James Hotel in Red Wing in 1981, and after the shop closed in 2001 they continued making estate appraisals for five more years. With all that, she found time to volunteer at the Red Wing Area Food Shelf and the Goodhue County Historical Society and took over George's seat on the Red Wing YMCA Board of Directors. Hap could always be counted on to pitch in and was surprised with the Jaycees Distinguished Service Award in 1992.
Hap learned to drive at age 60 and was constantly on the road until giving up her license in 2009. She would drive out west annually to visit her sister, Vivian, in Spokane, WA and her daughter, Joan, in Seattle - often with a load of furniture she'd expertly refinished and always with her dog as copilot. Hap doted on her grandchildren. She was an accomplished gardener keen on wild flowers and took great pride in working her yard herself.
Her recuperative powers were extraordinary, and she was able to bounce back from a fused neck, a kneecap removal, triple and quadruple bypass surgeries 17 years apart, and two pacemaker implants. A severely broken leg in 2001 really cramped her style but she soldiered on until a stroke in 2010 left her housebound. Her dogs, her books, the daily paper, crossword and jigsaw puzzles filled her last days. When asked she said, "I've had a long life and an interesting life. That's good enough." Amen.
She is survived by three sons, John Andrew (Marie) of Ortonville, MN, Richard of Red Wing, MN, and Kenneth (Barbara) Bergwall of Cambridge, MN; seven grandchildren, Jennell, Jeramy, Aljona, Raini, Raiko, Natalie and Nathan; and seven great-grandchildren; Scout and Jet Bergwall, Evan and Emmett Krueger, Emma, Adyson and Libby Bergwall; brother-in-law, Maxey Adams of Spokane, WA, and sister-in-law, HelenRae Hays, of North Palm Beach, FL.
She is preceded in death by her husband; one daughter, Joan Bergwall; one son, William Bergwall; two brothers, Bill and Garrett Hays; and two sisters, Margaret Reed and Vivian Adams.
Memorial service will be Saturday, 11 a.m. August 10, 2013 at First United Methodist Church in Red Wing with Rev. Hugh Stephenson officiating. Burial will be at Fish Lake Cemetery at a later date. Visitation will be 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday, August 9, 2013 at Mahn Family Funeral Home, Bodelson-Mahn Chapel. Memorials are preferred to the Red Wing YMCA, The Red Wing Environmental Learning Center, The American Heart Association or the American Cancer Society. On line condolences may be left for the family at www.mahnfamilyfuneralhome.com
602 Plum Street P.O. Box 111
Red Wing, MN 55066
403 East Ave
Red Wing, MN
Soon after war was declared, on a lark, she and two fellow nurses journeyed to Portland, OR to join what would become the 46th General Field Hospital. She was promoted to a 2nd Lt. in the Army Nurse Corps, assigned to the Surgical Section of the 46th, and served overseas from 1943 to 1944. Lt. Hays first met George Bergwall, of Cambridge, MN - an officer in the Quartermaster Corps, also attached to the 46th - when she complained the footwear issued her was too small. On a convoy ship bound for North Africa, one night on deck, Lt. Hays was getting so giddy with this adventure that Lt. Bergwall joked he should just call her "Happy." Hap as she was thereafter known, married George in Oran, Algeria in 1944.
Hap was soon discharged and moved back to Lamar, where she gave birth to her daughter Joan. When George returned in 1946, the three moved to St. Paul, MN and lived on-campus while he finished his degree at Hamline University. They built a small tract home in South St. Paul and added four boys - Andy, Richy, Kenny and Billy.
When George was hired by Red Wing Shoe Company in 1956, they bought a big old house on a large lot. Besides wrangling five wild kids she singlehandedly rehabbed the home and developed her passion for restoration and gardening. They joined First United Methodist Church when they moved to town, and Hap faithfully sang in the choir and served with the women's auxiliary. The couple hosted regular bridge parties, and her bicycle group took the name "Vash Day Veelers" when they rode the Sparta-Elroy Bike Trail on opening day, 1967, and an old German woman they met wondered, "Vat you ladies doing? It's vash day!" Hap was invited into PEO (Chapter P) Sisterhood in 1969 and hosted many meetings in her home. In 1981 George died at home, of ALS.
Hap and friends opened River Peddler Antiques in the St. James Hotel in Red Wing in 1981, and after the shop closed in 2001 they continued making estate appraisals for five more years. With all that, she found time to volunteer at the Red Wing Area Food Shelf and the Goodhue County Historical Society and took over George's seat on the Red Wing YMCA Board of Directors. Hap could always be counted on to pitch in and was surprised with the Jaycees Distinguished Service Award in 1992.
Hap learned to drive at age 60 and was constantly on the road until giving up her license in 2009. She would drive out west annually to visit her sister, Vivian, in Spokane, WA and her daughter, Joan, in Seattle - often with a load of furniture she'd expertly refinished and always with her dog as copilot. Hap doted on her grandchildren. She was an accomplished gardener keen on wild flowers and took great pride in working her yard herself.
Her recuperative powers were extraordinary, and she was able to bounce back from a fused neck, a kneecap removal, triple and quadruple bypass surgeries 17 years apart, and two pacemaker implants. A severely broken leg in 2001 really cramped her style but she soldiered on until a stroke in 2010 left her housebound. Her dogs, her books, the daily paper, crossword and jigsaw puzzles filled her last days. When asked she said, "I've had a long life and an interesting life. That's good enough." Amen.
She is survived by three sons, John Andrew (Marie) of Ortonville, MN, Richard of Red Wing, MN, and Kenneth (Barbara) Bergwall of Cambridge, MN; seven grandchildren, Jennell, Jeramy, Aljona, Raini, Raiko, Natalie and Nathan; and seven great-grandchildren; Scout and Jet Bergwall, Evan and Emmett Krueger, Emma, Adyson and Libby Bergwall; brother-in-law, Maxey Adams of Spokane, WA, and sister-in-law, HelenRae Hays, of North Palm Beach, FL.
She is preceded in death by her husband; one daughter, Joan Bergwall; one son, William Bergwall; two brothers, Bill and Garrett Hays; and two sisters, Margaret Reed and Vivian Adams.
Memorial service will be Saturday, 11 a.m. August 10, 2013 at First United Methodist Church in Red Wing with Rev. Hugh Stephenson officiating. Burial will be at Fish Lake Cemetery at a later date. Visitation will be 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday, August 9, 2013 at Mahn Family Funeral Home, Bodelson-Mahn Chapel. Memorials are preferred to the Red Wing YMCA, The Red Wing Environmental Learning Center, The American Heart Association or the American Cancer Society. On line condolences may be left for the family at www.mahnfamilyfuneralhome.com
Visitation
AUG 9. 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM (CDT)
Mahn Family Funeral Home, Bodelson-Mahn Chapel602 Plum Street P.O. Box 111
Red Wing, MN 55066
Service
AUG 10. 11:00 AM (CDT)
First United Methodist Church403 East Ave
Red Wing, MN
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