Bernice Symonds

Funeral Service: Will be held on Wednesday, April 29, 2015, at 11:00 a.m. United Methodist Church in Cumberland with burial in the Victoria Township Cemetery, south of Massena, Iowa. Pastor Casey Pelzer will officiate the service. A luncheon will follow the burial at the Cumberland Community Building.   

Family Visitation: The family will greet friends at the church one hour prior to services on Wednesday. 

Memorials: To Cumberland United Methodist Church or to the New Homestead in Guthrie Center. 

Bernice E. Symonds was born January 28, 1921, in Cass County, Iowa, the daughter of Homer and Matilda (Arp) Rich. She passed away on Friday, April 24, 2015, at the Guthrie County Hospital in Guthrie Center, Iowa, at the age of 94.

Bernice was raised and grew up in the Cumberland-Massena area. She attended country school through the eighth grade and graduated from Cumberland High School. She was united in marriage to Carl L. Symonds on August 12, 1940, in Maryville, Missouri. To this union four children were born: Patricia, Shirley, Robert and Richard. They farmed from 1953 to 2000.

Bernice enjoyed gardening, quilting, crocheting, church women’s society, social club, golfing and watching sports. She was a member of the Cumberland United Methodist Church.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Carl Symonds in 2014; and brother, Wayne Rich.

She is survived by her two daughters, Patricia Jackson (Don) of West Des Moines and Shirley Stephenson (Kent) of Lake Panorama; two sons, Robert Symonds (Kathy) of Council Bluffs and Richard Symonds (Julie Haney) of Omaha; nine grandchildren; twelve great grandchildren; other relatives and friends