Family history miscellaneous album - Bernice

 

Bernice Hicks was the next-to-last of Ulys and Annie Hicks' children, the youngest of the six girls. Family lore has it that her full name was Odell Avanell Bertha Bernice. Officially, it was Bertha Bernice. Her mother -- my great-grandmother Annie Arnold Hicks -- was named Bertha Ann, but was always called Annie. 

Bernice was married four times. Her first husband was Jay Bridges, whom she married in 1945, just after her 16th birthday. 

Bernice and Jay had three children: a son Shelby, another son Gregory who was stillborn or died at birth, and a daughter Cindy. Some time after Cindy's birth, Jay and Bernice were divorced.

Photo: Shelby and Cindy Bridges

Bernice married Jim Snelling -- for about five minutes -- in 1968. Then in 1970 she married Bill Rogers, and they were happily married for 33 years, until his death in 2003. 

Photo: Jim Snelling and Bernice, 1968

Photo: Bernice and Bill Rogers, 1970

After Bill's death, Bernice married Dean Kittleson in 2005. I don't have any pictures of him. 

Bernice died in 2016, after a long struggle with dementia, during which her daughter Cindy provided excellent loving care for many years. 

Photo: Lowell, Bernice, Olan Hicks