Bernadette M. Droessler

Kieler, Wisconsin Bernadette M. “Bernie” Droessler passed away on Tuesday, July 15, 2014, at Mercy Health Center in Dubuque. Services will be 10:30 a.m. Saturday, July 19, 2014, at Immaculate Conception Church in Kieler with Rev. Bernard Rott officiating. Burial will be in the church cemetery. Friends may call from 3-8 p.m. Friday at the Immaculate Conception Parish Center where the parish wake service will be at 2:45 p.m. Friends may also call from 9-10 a.m. Saturday at the parish center before the service. Casey Funeral Home & Cremation Services of Cuba City is in charge of arrangements. “Bernie” was born May 4, 1929, near Dickeyville to Ira and Caroline (Kruser) Splinter, the last of eight children. She married Al Droessler on May 8, 1946, at Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Dickeyville and they would share 68 years together. Bernie was a member of Immaculate Conception Parish, Council of Catholic Women, and had a special devotion to the “Infant Jesus of Prague.” Through the years she donated 62 pints of her special Type O Negative universal donor blood to help those in need. She was a hard-working farm wife manning the farm as Al pursued his construction business. She had a large chicken-egg operation and was a vendor at the Dubuque Farmer’s Market for many years, known for her perfectly-dressed chicken, ducks and geese. In later years she got into the painting and decorating business starting with her brother-in-law Gene, and later with Al and their sons. Bernie was a natural in the kitchen, a skilled seamstress, and was well-known for her beautiful quilts. In her younger years she loved gardening, canning, and especially butchering time in the fall. She loved camping with Al and their children when they were young, and after going “Up North” for over 50 years with family and grandchildren, she became an expert at catching Bluegills. But the joy of her life was her family and the wave of grandchildren that followed, making each feel special in their own right. She will be fondly remembered by her family and anyone who shared her life’s path. Bernie is survived by her husband, Al; her children Sam, (Nancy), Tom (Judy), and Linda (Phil) Schwinn, all of Kieler, Ted (Lisa), of Potosi, Albie (Patty), of Stoughton, and Angel (Rick) Busch, of Gays Mills; 16 grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren; and a sister-in-law, Rosie Splinter, of Cuba City.. She was preceded in death by her parents; her brothers and their wives, Clarence (Salome), Bill (Myra), Ira (Rita and Dorothy), and Lavern; and her sisters and their husbands, Loretta (Lawrence Frost and Otto Burbach), Luetta (Jerry) Droessler, and Lucille (Charles) Grandville. In lieu of flowers a Bernadette M. "Bernie" Droessler Memorial Fund has been established. A special thanks to the Dickeyville-Kieler Rescue Squad for their help in our family’s time of need, the doctors and nurses at Mercy Health Center’s CVU Dept., and Dubuque Hospice for their gentle care of our mother.