Bernice Keen

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Bernice Mary Keen, 72, of Charleston died Sunday, Nov. 3, 2002, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston, Mo.

She was born March 26, 1930, in the Texas Bend community, daughter of Bernard Joseph and Louise Renaud Bruenderman. She and Charles Curtis Keen were married April 10, 1951. He died Nov. 29, 1994.

Keen lived in Charleston most of her life. She was a cook at St. Henry Catholic School, retiring in 1995. She was a member of St. Henry Catholic Church and Daughters of Isabella.

Survivors include two sons, Michael Keen of Jackson, Randy Keen of Charleston; six daughters, Brenda Ketterer of Milton, Fla., Denise Ray of East Prairie, Mo., Mary Gates of Sikeston, Phyllis Schwartz of Benton, Mo., Rebecca Keen and Tina Ahlfield of St. Charles, Mo.

She is also survived by two brothers, Raymond Bruenderman of Cape Girardeau, Bernard "Buddy" Bruenderman of Wilsonville, Ore.; a sister, Mary Newcomb of Charleston; 16 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents, a son, three brothers, and a sister.

Funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. today at St. Henry Catholic Church, with the Rev. Gerald Brown officiating. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery.