Berniece Amalia Hemmah, 79

Berniece Amalia Hemmah, 79, passed away on Sunday, Aug. 19, 2007, at Edgewood Vista in Kalispell. Berniece was born on Oct. 15, 1927, in Plaza, N.D., to Charles and Amalia (Zachow) Larson. She was raised on a farm near Plaza, graduating from Makoti High School in 1946.

Berniece attended Minot State Business College, graduating in 1947. She married Ben Vetter in 1947; they later divorced in 1971.

During the 1950s she was a homemaker and helped Ben with his men's clothing store in Garrison, N.D. They moved to Glasgow, in 1960. She started working at JC Penney Co., in the accounting department. In 1971 she was promoted to manager of the Malta store. She was the second woman to become a manager for the company. She retired in 1986.

During her years in Malta she was a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the fair board and women's auxiliary.

She loved to dance, sing, and work in her flower garden. She loved babies and dogs, and especially loved her family and being with her grandchildren.

Berniece moved to the Flathead Valley in the early 1990s, where after 32 years of being single, she married the prince of the her life Ray, Hemmah in July of 2001. They wintered in Mesa, Ariz. for several years.

She was preceded in death by her parents; two brothers, Clarence Larson in 1988, and Marvin Larson in 1994.

She is survived by her husband, Ray, at the family home in Kalispell; children, Brian and Becky Vetter of Glendive, Brent and Rosemarie Vetter of Helena, Barry Vetter of Los Gatos, Calif., Ben Vetter of Butte, Barbi and David Belt, Palos Hills, Ill., and Becky and David Maynard, of Ketchikan, Alaska; brother, Oliver and Annie Larson, of Minot, N.D.; sister-in-law, Kathy Larson of Minot; 17 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

She will be greatly missed by her family and everyone that knew her.

A celebration of her life will be at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 22, at Eidsvold Lutheran Church in Somers, with the Rev. Wayne Pris officiating. Burial will be at Sunset Memorial Cemetery in Minot, on Friday Aug. 24.

The family requests memorials be made to either the Alzheimer's Association, or the American Lung Association.

Buffalo Hill Funeral Home is caring for the family.