Bernice Gilmore Tiscornia

Bernice Gilmore Tiscornia, 94, of St. Joseph, died January 13, 2007 at Caretel Inns of Royalton. At her request a private family service will take place in the chapel at the First Congregational Church of St. Joseph, where she was a long-time member. The Rev. Dr. Robert Braman will officiate. Memorial contributions may be made to Sarett Nature Center or the First Congregational Church. Arrangements are entrusted to Kerley-Starks & Menchinger Family Funeral Home, 2650 Niles Rd., St. Joseph. Those wishing to sign the guestbook or send a condolence message online may do so at www.starks-menchinger.com Bernice was born June 23, 1912 in Stockton, California. She graduated from the College of Pacific on June 11, 1934 and the next day married Lester C. Tiscornia, her husband of 58 years until his death in 1993. They lived in Stockton, California where their three children were born, and moved to Benton Harbor, Michigan in 1946. Bernice was an active member of the local community. She served on the local boards of the Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra, the YWCA and the Maude Preston Palenske Library building committee and was a past president of the Community Services Council and the Twin Cities branch of the American Association of University Women. Nominated to serve on Governor George Romney’s Commission on Education, Bernice was tremendously proud to be a delegate to the White House Conference on Aging in 1965. She also was a member of the committees that established and located Lake Michigan College, the county hospital and the Area Agency on Aging. Bernice served for many years as a member and trustee of the Berrien Community Foundation and was a member of the Lakeland Health Foundation. In 1995, Bernice and Lester were jointly awarded the Berrien County Bar Association’s Liberty Bell award. Until her death, Bernice served as vice-president and trustee of The Tiscornia Foundation. Most of all, Bernice was a loving mother and devoted and beloved grandmother and great-grandmother. She was most proud of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. An avid golfer, she was very proud of achieving a hole-in-one at Sea Pines Plantation on Hilton Head Island, playing with her husband and Penny and C.T. Loftus. Bernice is survived by her three children, Laurianne (Barry) Davis of St. Joseph, James (JoEllen) Tiscornia of Abingdon, Virginia and Edward (Jeanne) Tiscornia of Centerville, Ohio; Grandchildren Leslianne (Chris) Clarke, Dr. Amy (Alan Ronson) Davis, Andrew (Holly) Davis, J. Winston Tiscornia, David (Lisa) Tiscornia, Kari (Joseph) Lamancusa, Kristin (Ted) Thomas, Christopher, (Claire) Tiscornia, Courtney (Patrick) Mehan, and Michael Nadolski; Great-grandchildren Joshua and Jillian Nadolski, Charlotte and Josephina Ronson and Sophie Lamancusa. In addition to her husband Lester, she was preceded in death by her parents, Ernest and Florence Gilmore, her brothers Clarence and Ralph, and her sister Ethel.