Bernice Bea Southard

Bernice “Bea” Southard, 99, of Grand Island, NE died on September 7, 2019 at Tiffany Square. Funeral service will be 10:30 AM Monday, September 16, 2019 at Apfel Funeral Home with Matthew Nordin officiating. Burial be at Westlawn Memorial Park Cemetery. A visitation will be held from 2-4 PM Sunday, September 15, 2019. Memorials are suggested to the Grand Island Retired Teachers Association Scholarship Fund or the GI Education Foundation “Bill and Bea Southard Endowment Fund”. Online condolences may be directed to the family at www.apfelfuneralhome.com.

Mrs. Southard was born on November 25, 1919 at Wood River, Nebraska. The daughter of John H. and Alyce (Mickish) Krull. She was reared by her grandparents, Paul and Minnie Mickish of Alda. She graduated from Alda Public Schools in 1937 and attended Kearney State College receiving her bachelor’s degree in 1960. She later did her post graduate studies at Hastings College and the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.



She was united in marriage to William S. Southard on November 30, 1939 at Dannebrog, NE. The couple made their home in Cairo until 1960 at which time they moved to Grand Island where they both continued to teach. Mr. Southard died in July of 1980.



Mrs. Southard devoted 44 years to her teaching career the last 27 years of which were in the Grand Island Public School System mostly at Walnut Middle School.



She was a member of the First Baptist Church of Grand Island where she held various offices and taught Sunday school. She was a charter member of the Dorothy Chapter, No. 322 Order of the Eastern Star (now defunct) and later transferred to the Grand Island Andrew Chapter, No 41. She was a member of the Grand Island Retired Teachers Organization and a past member of the Honorary Teachers Society. She was an active volunteer at St. Francis Medical Center and a volunteer for the American Red Cross Chapter.



Survivors include one sister, Mary Alyce Langdon of Grants Pass, Oregon and numerous nieces and nephews.



She was preceded in death by her husband, three brothers, and one sister.