Bernice Ellen (Hirt) Mason, the second daughter of Osie and Amy (Riffey) Hirt, was born at home on July 4, 1929 near Harris, Kansas. She departed this life for her eternal reward on Wednesday, May 8, 2024.
She was baptized at 15 on May 5, 1945 and remained a member of The Old German Baptist Church for the duration of her life.
She was married to Keith Wray Mason at her parents home in Westphalia, Kansas on June 15, 1952. Their marriage was blessed with a total of 6 children, living their entire married life near Sawyer, Kansas.
She loved her husband, children and grandchildren. She enjoyed cooking, gardening, sewing and genealogy. Family was important to her and she organized many family reunions. She always enjoyed celebrations and fixing food for people. In her later years, she pieced quilts for all her children and grandchildren.
She cared for her husband when he was afflicted with Alzheimer's disease. Her life, up to 90 years old, was spent caring for family members other than herself. She had heart surgery in 2010, so she could continue to care for her husband and son. Her youngest daughter and her husband, had the honor of taking her home to live with their family for the last several months of her life where she passed with congestive heart failure at 94 years, 10 months and 4 days of age.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Keith; her parents, Osie and Amy Hirt; her sisters, Norma Jane Hirt and Fern Miller; brother in-law, Melvin Miller; sister in-law, Anna May Hirt; and granddaughter, Deborah Jonassen.
She leaves behind her children and their companions, Alice and Martin Jonassen of Gallatin, Missouri.; Ivan and Martha (Holsinger) Mason of Sawyer; Norman and Rachel (Holsinger) Mason of Sawyer; Russell and Brenda (Klaassen) Mason of Wichita; Dennis and Ellen Mohler of Sawyer; and Glen Mason of Sawyer; brother and sister in-law, Vernon and Donna (Killingsworth) Hirt of Sawyer; brother, Richard Hirt of Aurburndale, Florida; brother and sister in-law, Kieth and Marilyn (Stever) Hirt of Westphalia, Kansas.; 22 grandchildren, 38 great-grandchildren, and many nieces, nephews and friends.
Visitation will be Saturday, May 11, 2024 from 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. at The Old German Baptist Brethren Church, 50237 SE. 90th St., Sawyer, Kansas. Funeral service will be held at 10:00 a.m., Sunday, May 12, 2024 at The Old German Baptist Brethren Church. Burial to follow at Pleasant View Cemetery, Sawyer.
Memorials may be made to Interim Hospice in care of Larrison Mortuary, 300 Country Club Road, Pratt. Online condolences may be made at www.larrisonmortuary.com.
"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: a time to be born and a time to die"... Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 KJV