Bernadine Fish

The White Mountain Independent, Show Low, Arizona ~ 06/24/2011

Bernadine "Bernie" Fish, 93, died peacefully June 18, 2011, in Mesa following a stroke. She was born June 9, 1918, in Pinetop to Laverne West and Edith Adelma "Delma" Colvin who predeceased her.

Bernie was a premature baby and her mother said she was so tiny she put her in a shoe box for a bed. In about 1952, Bernie and her family moved permanently to Mesa from the White Mountains.

She was an entrepreneur; owning first a dress store, Ber Milla Fashions, 25 South MacDonald in Mesa with her partner, Mildred Charles and later a health food store, Foods O' Life, 29 West Main Street in Mesa with her partner, Dottie Stiles.

She was a talented artist and her oil paintings grace the homes of many in her family. She loved to dance, and she and her husband, Ross, did group square dancing for many years. They were an adventurous couple, taking several motorcycle trips in the United States, Canada and Mexico. She was an avid reader, especially about the health field and seemed to always have a book or two lying around her.

She was a member of the Fish Family Orchestra, playing the bass for dances all over the White Mountains along with her husband, who played the drums, and other members of his family. Her children came along on the nights they played, and Bernie made a bed for them out of blankets on the floor behind the piano where she could keep an eye on them. Her husband owned and worked at sawmills for years, and Bernie ran the "cook shack" and cooked lunch for the mill hands. She did this on a wood stove, so hot it made the pitch run out of the pine board walls.

Bernie was a lifelong member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and as such held many positions. She was affectionately known as "Granny" by her family and leaves behind her husband of over 75 years and a large posterity consisting of her children: Pat [David] Mobley, Errol Fish [deceased], Pam Tyler, Dwight [Deborah] Fish, Debbie Brock and Mike [Marilyn] Fish as well as 27 grandchildren, 60 great-grandchildren and six great-great grandchildren. She is also survived by her brothers: Norman [Evelyn] West, Ernie and Edmond West, her sisters: Sonja McNeil and Clarlynn [Francisco] Merino, and her sisters of the heart: Lavida Penrod and Lois Colvin.

Parents:

Laverne West (1898 - 2000)

Edith Adelma Colvin Stradling (1899 - 1989)

Spouse:

Ross A. Fish (1919 - 2011)

Children:

Errol Ross Fish (1939 - 1990)

Created by: mommycita

Record added: Jun 24, 2011

Find A Grave Memorial# 71887843