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ebook History of Watertown, Wisconsin
Bernard Fendt
1934 - 2006
Bernard "Bernie" G. Fendt, 71, of Watertown,
died
A memorial Mass will be held Tuesday at
If desired, memorials may be made to the St. Henry’s
Catholic School Tuition Fund to help students in need or to Rainbow Hospice of
Jefferson.
Hafemeister
Funeral Home of Watertown is in charge of arrangements.
Bernie was born in Watertown on
Bernie received a degree in social work from the
University of Wisconsin-Madison and in secondary education from the University
of Wisconsin-Platteville. He had served in the
United States Army.
He was an accredited teacher and social worker. He
worked in Sheboygan, Milwaukee, Waukesha and other cities.
In 1989 he received a heart transplant at the
University of Wisconsin Hospital. Bernie had been employed at St. Henry's
Parish at the time, but a few years thereafter, health forced his retirement.
He then became a service volunteer.
He enjoyed caring for the terminally ill through
Rainbow Hospice of Jefferson. He was also co-founder of the service
organization, Quad-County Chapter of the American Association of Retired
Persons, and was a member of Disabled American Veterans. He will be sadly
missed by all.
Surviving are his sisters, Dorothy (Paul) Bohlmann of Palatine, Ill., and Gemma (Don) Templeton of
Green Bay; nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends. He was preceded in
death by his parents; one-day-old brother, Anthony; a brother, Eugene J. Fendt;
sisters, Marian Behling, Margaret Bohlman and Jane
Schubert; and a brother-in-law, Gerald Schubert.
_______________________________________
In February of 1990 the Watertown Daily Times had a feature article on parishioner Bernard
Fendt and the heart transplant procedure he had undergone at the University of
Wisconsin Hospital in Madison, emphasizing the lasting near-death impressions
Bernard experienced and how they helped to transform his life. After a month of assuming he was dead, and
days of feeling dead, Fendt remembered the moment he woke from surgery as “one
of the most precious memories I’ll ever have in my new life.“ Fendt was the maintenance man for the church
and also for St. Joseph’s Home for the Aged.
History
of Watertown, Wisconsin