Bernice Disbrow

There will be a memorial Celebration of Life service for her at Illini Congregational Church, 5187 North Kenny Road, Warrensburg, IL 62573 on Saturday, April 7, 2018. There will be visitation starting at 10:30 am followed by the service at 11:00 am.Bernice and her husband Lewis (Ben) were married for over 60 years. Ben passed away in June of 2009. Both Ben and Bernice requested cremation and their ashes will be interred in a joint urn in the Illini Church cemetery adjacent to the church as the final part of the service.The family request memorials to the Illini Congregational Church in lieu of flowers.Della Bernice Alsup Disbrow passed from this life on Friday, November 24, after 95 years, 1 month and 3 days of bringing love, joy, support, and comfort to this world. Bernice was born in rural Latham, Illinois on October 21, 1922. She was the fifth of seven children raised by Charles and Margaret (Wachter) Alsup. Bernice grew up as a farm girl attending Warrensburg Latham schools. She married her high school sweetheart, Lewis Benning Disbrow, on August 22, 1940.Ben and Bernice raised 4 sons, Jim, Ted, Bob and Tom. They were a farm family living near Boody, Il. and then Lake City, Il until 1955, when Caterpillar came to Decatur and Ben begin his 30-year career there. In 1956 the family moved to Argenta, Illinois. Ben and Bernice built a home on Karen Dr., Decatur, Il. In the mid-1960’s where they lived until 1972 when they moved to the Disbrow family farm home on Wyckles, Rd. east of Warrensburg. This farm was homesteaded from the railroad by Ben’s great grandparents just prior to the civil war. Bernice worked outside the home most of her life while raising a family. While living in Argenta, she began a secretarial career with the Argenta school district and moved on to working for the Hubbard Insurance agency as well as the Kemper Insurance Company, both located in Decatur. She later worked for the Decatur Water Department and ended her employment years running her own federal crop insurance agency. Like many mothers of the post-World War II era, she worked to provide a few extra’s for her family and a college education for her children. The fact she worked outside the home did not mean she worked less at home; it was just that her days started earlier, and her evenings were occupied with laundry, cleaning and being mom and wife. She rarely if ever complained, and always had time and a smile for the many friends and companions of her family.Upon her husband Ben’s retirement from Caterpillar, they started Black Bart’s Pumpkin Patch on the historic Disbrow family farm where they lived. For several years they hosted many school field trips for local students who enjoyed a free pumpkin and tales of Black Bart.Ben and Bernice extensively researched family genealogy with great interest. Bernice published two books, “Your Mamas and Your Papas Volume I, Disbrow, Huffmaster and Wentworth” and Volume II “Alsup, Watchter, Collings and Richey”. These books trace the family history from the early days of our country to the publishing date with many stories of ancestral life and times.Ben and Bernice were married for almost sixty-nine years when he died in 2009. They were social, outgoing, friendly people who enjoyed their large family and many friends. Throughout their lives they remained close to their high school friends, getting together once a month for what was called “the potluck group”. They enjoyed golf with friends and in their retirement years traveling central Illinois for golf, dinner, and an evening together with the “Little Wanderers”. Ben and Bernice enjoyed playing cards, especially bridge. Many evenings were spent around the bridge table with friends.Sons Jim, Ted, and Tom all settled in distant locations: Jim in Denver; Ted in St. Louis, then DeKalb, Il. and finally, in Mesa/Chandler, Az; and Tom in Columbia, SC. Many weekends were spent in St. Louis and DeKalb visiting Ted, Jackie and their first grandchildren. Vacations were to Denver and South Carolina. After retirement, winters were spent in Mesa, Az where they purchased a condo. They made many new friends while wintering there.In 2005 Ben and Bernice purchased a “senior friendly” home in Arbor Trails on the North side of Decatur. Ben Passed away in 2009, and in 2011 Bernice moved into an assisted living facility in Chandler, Az, that she and Ben had picked out to be their final home. Bernice passed away quietly in her bed at that facility last Friday with family by her side. Bernice was preceded in death by one son, Jim, her husband and all the Alsups and Disbrows of her generation except her sister, Mable McCane of Ft. Myers, FL and sister-in-law Rose Ellen Wentworth of Decatur. She is survived by sons Ted (Jackie) of Chandler, AZ, Bob (Jessica) of Decatur and Tom (Lee) of Columbia, SC, and 12 grandchildren, 29 great grandchildren and 1 great-great grandchild. Bernice’s family was the true love of her life, and she always had time, energy and love for all of them. To quote a grandson “I have learned so many wonderful life lessons from her words over the years, some of which I find myself reciting to others and my family. She truly defines matriarch and is an enduring role model for all of us.”Bernice will be cremated, and her ashes returned to be buried with those of Ben in the family plot in Illini cemetery near Warrensburg. A celebration of Bernice’s life will be held in the warm days of 2018, and an announcement of that date will be made later. "
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