Joyce Kathleen Bergner

Joyce Kathleen Bergner was born on July 4, 1945, in Kansas City, Missouri, to Luther and Katherine Bell. As a girl, she was active in Camp Fire and a member of Job's Daughters. She graduated from Paseo High School in 1963 and attended Metropolitan Junior College. She met Michael Bergner in high school, and they married in 1966 at St. Luke's United Methodist Church. While Mike was in the Navy, they lived briefly in San Diego and returned to Kansas City to be near their families and to start their own family. Both before and after California, she worked at Sears Roebuck and was a whiz with a comptroller machine for the finance department. She and Mike had three children, Brien in 1971, Karin in 1975, and James (a delightful surprise!) in 1980. With her endearing love of children, she was a leader in both Cub Scouts and Camp Fire Girls, and she never passed up an opportunity to host a school party or chaperone a band trip. She was an inveterate supporter of lemonade stands, school carnivals, amateur theatricals, and her children's shenanigans. In her forties, she returned to college to earn her AA in Early Childhood Development, and she was never far from a classroom for over twenty years. After she retired, she loved scrapbooking, reading mysteries, and playing with her grandchildren (and her dogs!). Joyce equally held a sense of the divine and a sense of humor, and she always kidded to never tell her a joke on Saturday night because she'd laugh in church on Sunday morning. She held an indefatigable belief in the goodness of humanity, and that spirit infected everyone she met.
Joyce also demonstrated an indefatigable spirt in everything she endeavored. She championed the underdog and was never without a kind word for the unfortunate. As life's circumstances got more challenging, they never got the better of her, and she fought with honesty and vulnerability and tenacity. And always with a smile.
Joyce is survived by her husband, Michael, of 53 years; her son, Brien, and son-in-law, Michael; her daughter, Karin, and son-in-law, Eddie, and grandchildren Amelia and Aiden; James, her youngest, died two years ago; Joyce is also survived by daughter-in-law, Teresa, and grandchildren, Maddy and Lacey. And finally, her lovable dogs, Celie, Coco, and Frito.
We'd like to extend a special thanks to the dedicated staff at St. Mary's Manor in Blue Springs and Centerpoint Hospital in Independence who helped care for Joyce over the last few years. Your kindness and grace were great blessings.
Joyce was a lover of pets of all kinds and would have appreciated any gifts to the ASPCA.
Donate to the ASPCA
Graveside Service Memorial Park Cemetery

Saturday, June 08, 2019

11:00 AM

8251 Hillcrest RoadKansas City, Missouri 64138
Directions