Staff writer
Everyone, including adults, needs a role model to look up to in life — someone who sets a good example for us, especially as they grow older.
Adeline Bernhardt of Tampa is that kind of person. Despite having a bad back, the 87-year-old woman maintains an active lifestyle and takes measures to stay healthy.
Bernhardt has done numerous things throughout her lifetime. She has been a parent, teacher, grocery clerk, bus driver, secretary, librarian, and production line supervisor.
Bernhardt serves on the board of Marion County Senior Citizens, Inc. As health service provider, she is required to present a timely health-related topic at each monthly meeting. Her next lesson will address how to avoid the H1N1 virus.
Bernhardt was honored to be selected to represent Marion County at the Senior Fair in Salina in September. Her friend, Dee Duggan of Tampa and Tampa Senior Citizens nominated her, and the Senior Citizens Board selected her.
At the fair, pictures of Bernhardt and the other representatives from the 18 counties involved in Flint Hills Area Agency on Aging were included in a video presentation.
Bernhardt was an excellent selection to represent the fair’s theme, “Aging on a High Note.” Her looks belie her age, and she maintains a youthful spirit.
She is in good health despite difficulty walking for long periods of time due to a herniated disc in her lower back. She takes vitamins and tries to eat right.
Bernhardt graduated from Tampa High School in 1940. After attending Emporia State Teachers’ College for one year, she obtained a three-year teacher’s certificate.
After the country entered World War II, Bernhardt was able to extend her teaching certificate by taking a yearly exam. She taught at various country schools in the Tampa area.
She married another Tampa native, Ted Bernhardt, in 1944, and spent the next two or three years teaching at Tampa Grade School.
She lived at home during her first four years of teaching and was able to save up money that she later used to furnish their home.
She quit teaching when the couple decided to start a family. They had two children, Barney and Kathy.
The couple moved into Tampa in 1946. Bernhardt has lived there ever since. Her husband died in 2000. He worked at Donahue Corporation for many years.
When the children still were small, Bernhardt and a friend, Olga Bentz, were hired as supervisors at Jetmore Togs, a children’s clothing manufacturer in Hillsboro.
She later worked at Havlik’s Grocery Store during winter months.
In the 1960s, she took a job as bus driver for Centre school district. This was the beginning of 25 years with the district, where she advanced from bus driver to secretary to assistant librarian.
She and librarian Beth Pagenkopf retired in the same year, 1987.
Bernhardt has never lacked for things to do.
“I have to be busy,” she said. “I can’t just sit around.”
She is a lifelong member of the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League and has served as treasurer for many years. She began playing the church organ at age 13 and continued in that position for more than 65 years.
She is secretary of the Shady Ladies Red Hat Society, consisting of women from Tampa and surrounding areas. They meet monthly and make up a singing group that occasionally performs at retirement homes.
Besides her outside activities, Bernhardt enjoys spending time on her computer to get information and stay connected through e-mail with family and friends. She also enjoys watching games shows on TV.
A humble beginning
Born Adeline Bentz, Bernhardt’s family was poor. Although the family lived several miles from town, they did not have a car for many years. They walked everywhere including to country church and parochial school.
Her father died when she was 9 years old. It was not until some years later, when her mother remarried, that the family had a car. Bernhardt later used that car to travel to her teaching jobs.
Her first school, Red Top, was two or three miles west of Tampa. The first mile from home was graveled, but after that, it turned to dirt. In wet weather, the car wheels became balled in mud, often forcing her to get out and walk.
She had about a dozen students and was paid $45 a month. She took care of the school and used her own earned money to buy supplies.
After a year, Bernhardt went to Bartholdi. It was near the Dickinson County line and was closer to home. Her pay increased to $100 a month.
“I thought that was something,” she said.
She taught there for three years, and then transferred to Comet, a few miles southeast of Tampa.
Then love came calling. Ted Bernhardt was two years older than Adeline. At Tampa High School, lockers were assigned in alphabetical order, so Adeline’s was next to Ted’s.
“He was kind of ornery,” she recalled. “I told my mother I would be glad when he graduated.”
He must have softened her heart, however, because they started dating in 1939 and were married in 1944.
Bernhardt always had a large garden and loved to sew. She doesn’t garden anymore but enjoys baking cookies and occasional pies.
“I always have cookies in my freezer,” she said.
In her mind, growing up poor wasn’t all bad.
“We grew up at a time when we saved everything. We were frugal. Now young people get everything they want. They don’t have anything to look forward to.”
Bernhardt’s family has grown to include four grandchildren, seven step-grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, and 13 step-great-grandchildren.
Her motto is, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”