Ruth Elizabeth (Bishop) Berns Obituary (1918 - 2012)

Ruth Elizabeth (Bishop) Berns, of Springfield, formerly of Pana and Oconee, died Wednesday, August 22, 2012 in St. Joseph's Home, Springfield. She was born April, 20 1918, in Heyworth, IL, the fifth child of James Glenn and Merna Vere (Ross) Bishop. She attended elementary school there. During her senior year in Heyworth High School, her family moved to Clinton, IL. Since Ruth wanted to finish school in Heyworth, she got permission from the school board to do so without paying tuition. She rode back and forth with a friend of her parents, who lived in Clinton and drove each day to Heyworth to manage the Illinois Central Station in Heyworth. She attended Illinois State University, working her way through school by being a secretary to the Dean of Education Department and a waitress in a local coffee shop. She received her Bachelor of Education degree in 1940. Upon graduation, Ruth took a teaching job in Rosamond, IL, as a business and physical education teacher. It was here that she met her future husband, Leo Berns, a teacher there. During the first summer vacation, Ruth went to Chicago to live with her sisters, Inez and Marie, and worked in Chicago as a temporary secretary with Who's Who in America in the Palmolive Building. After a second year in Rosamond, Ruth resigned to work in Chicago and stay with her sisters. She worked for an insurance broker on Wells St. and taught business classes two nights in the Central YMCA, downtown Chicago. Later Ruth and her sisters moved to Blue Island and Ruth worked as a surgical secretary in Billings Hospital. Inez was at the time a teacher in Blue Island and Marie was working on a degree at University of Chicago. In the meantime, Leo Berns had gone to the Navy and was stationed in Norfolk and then Newport, RI. He received orders to come to Great Lakes and on February 20, 1943, Ruth and he were married in St. Benedicts in Blue Island. They lived for a time in the Near North Side of Chicago and then in a summer cottage at Grays Lake, where Leo could commute to the base. Ruth quit working and their son, John Leo, was born December 4, 1943 in Waukegan. They obtained quarters on the Outdoor Rifle Range, where Leo was a rifle instructor. It was while they were here that Frederic James was born, July 10, 1945. When it was time for Leo's discharge, he had an acute appendicitis attack and went to sick bay for an operation. Although he had a job with Buckley, IL school system as coach/teacher, he was kept for a while on the base. The school board allowed him a delay and in October was discharged. They then moved to Buckley, where they lived in the Methodist parsonage, which was vacant and could be rented. They lived there two years. When Leo was hired as Superintendent/Principal in Hume, IL, they again moved to Hume. In 1948, Elizabeth Ann was born and right after her birth, they moved to Mt. Zion, where Leo took a job a Principal of the high school there. They lived there five years and then moved to Oconee, IL to a farm they owned. Theresa Marie was born in Mt. Zion on November 3, 1952. Ruth started substituting in schools in 1964, began to teach regularly in Pana Senior High School, where she taught until 1982. Over the years, she taught Typing, Accounting, English, and Consumer Education. In Oconee, Leo farmed 240 acres of his own and rented some other acreage. They did extensive remodeling of the farmhouse and lived there until 1983, when the purchased a home at 201 W. Seventh in Pana, IL and moved there. In 1982, Ruth quit her teaching job at Pana Senior High, where she had taught for 23 years. They rented their farm to the Marley Brothers and the farmhouse to the Jerry Cotherns. Ruth enjoyed reading, writing, quilting, traveling, genealogy researching, knitting, miniatures, and sewing. She was a member of Sacred Heart, St. Pat's, and Blessed Sacrament Parishes; Pana Library Board; Fortnightly Club; Tuesday Club; and American Legion Auxiliary. Ruth is survived by children: John Berns (wife Char) of Little Falls, MN; Fred Berns of Whitehall, WI; Elizabeth "Libby" Loftus (husband Mike) of Milford, MA; Theresa "Terri" Berns of Springfield, IL; grandchildren: John Berns (wife Margaret) of Minnesota; Colleen Simms (husband David) of Great Britain; Megan Baierlein (husband Kirk) of California; Jack Loftus, Caitlin Loftus, Moire Loftus of Massachusetts; great grandchildren: John, Stephen, Maria, Avila, Camille, Anthony all of Minnesota; Sebastian Oliver of Great Britain; Archie of California; and another on the way. Funeral Information Funeral mass will be held Saturday, August 25, 2012 in Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Oconee at 10:00 a.m. with Rev. Rodney A. Schwartz officiating. Burial will be in Sacred Heart Cemetery, Oconee. Friends may call on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. until service time in the church.