Bernice Cuppy

Bernice Cuppy, 87, of Faulkton, passed away Thursday, June 21, 2018 at the Faulkton Senior Living.

Funeral Mass was held at 10:30 a.m., Monday, June 25, 2018, at St. Thomas the Apostle Church, Faulkton, with Fr. Christopher Hughes officiating. Burial followed in St. Thomas Catholic Cemetery. Rosary service was held at 5:00 p.m., Sunday, June 24, at the church.

Bernice Martha Frasier was born on February 21, 1931 to Walter and Madeline (Lenhoff) Frasier in Faulkton, SD. She grew up near Faulkton and graduated as valedictorian of her class from Orient High School in 1949. On June 21, 1949, she married Raymond Cuppy at St. Thomas Catholic Church in Faulkton. To this union, six girls were born. In 1955, Ray and Bernice purchased a farm in the Norbeck/Wecota area. After an accident took the life of Bernice’s sister and her husband in 1970, their three children came to live with Ray and Bernice. While growing up, Bernice learned to sew on her mother’s treadle sewing machine and because raising 9 children is not inexpensive, she sewed all of the family’s clothes, as well as diapers for her babies and dish towels. She began to design dresses and outfits by putting patterns together to get the style she wanted. She was incredibly particular and would ‘do and redo’ until she got it just the way she wanted. She made all the wedding gowns and bridesmaid dresses for all of her daughters, a suit for her husband, dresses for her granddaughters, and beautiful quilts for all the grandkids at their graduations. Because of her amazing talent and inability to say no, she had a part in 100’s of wedding alterations and various sewing projects for many people, as well as teaching countless youth how to sew. As her eyesight began to fail, sewing became more difficult, and she did need assistance to finish a couple grandson’s quilts. However, determination was one of her many attributes and one of her last projects was hand sewing beads on her granddaughter’s wedding veil.

She was a member of the St. Thomas Altar Society, Catholic Daughters, and she taught catechism for many years while her children were growing up. She was an Extension Homemaker Club member and 4-H leader for many years and served as a clothing judge at the state fair as well as a fashion revue judge. She also was a record book judge and helped develop a new way of keeping record books that was adopted by the state.   In 1991 she was recognized for her achievements by receiving the prestigious SD Eminent Homemaker Award, and she was also inducted into the 4-H Hall of Fame. She helped organize the first Cresbard PTA and was an active member of the Faulk Unit of the American Cancer Society.

Bernice was compassionate and giving, always putting others first. She loved orchestrating family gatherings and being surrounded by those she loved most.   Bernice and Ray moved into Faulkton in 1993, and they found joy in traveling to visit kids and grandkids as well as attending as many grandkids’ activities as possible. Ray passed away in 2006, and Bernice entered the Meadows Assisted Living in March 2011 after a fall that injured her knee. She moved into Faulkton Senior Living in February 2015 and lived for visits from all of her family. She especially lit up when all the little great-grands would come around.

So very grateful for having shared in her life are her 9 children: Linda (Rod) Dikoff, Barb (Wayne) Heien, Diane Wolf, Patti (Keith) Homan, Nancy (Ken) Homan, Donna (Jerry) Weyh, Cindy (Dan) Pfeffer, Jeff (Shirley) Greiner, and Pam (Dan) Benthin; 25 grandchildren and 37 great-grandchildren: Justin (Nicky) Dikoff (Kennedy, Lincoln, and Landon), Brandi (Sheldon) Holt (Jaxon, Brentley, Braelynn, and Brystol), Krista (Jeff) Wright (Janaya), Cory (Tricia) Heien (Finlee, Lakyn, Chiles), Eric (JoAnn) Heien (Aubrey, Riley, Grady), Jason Heien, Stacy Wolf (KayLynn), Ryan Wolf, Kyle (Allison) Homan, Kelly (Jessica) Homan (Chandler, Taviah, Leah), Scott (Samantha) Homan (Nora and Reid), Lisa (Steve) Greer (Caleb and Jordan), Chad (Diana) Homan (Henry, Calvin, Clay), Brian (Paige) Homan (Brayden, Claire, Courtney, Brody), Jeff McGuire, Mike McGuire (Jaxen), Nathan Weyh, Nicholas Weyh, Derek Noess (Trey), Drew (Kaylee) Vincent (Kolbi, Chayden, Berlynn), Angela Vincent (Isiah and Devik), Ashley Vincent, Danielle Vincent (Landon), Donovan Greiner, and Brett Aamold; sister, Carol (Red) Fink; brother, Eugene (Cherry) Frasier; sisters-in-law: Doris Ketterling, Darlene Cuppy, Alvina Cuppy, and Viola (Paul) Regan; brother-in-law, George Cuppy; as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

Bernice was preceded in death by her husband, Ray; her parents, Walter and Madeline; infant grandson, Keith Wolf; son-in-law, Ron Wolf; three brothers: Richard Frasier, Donald Frasier, and Baby Boy Frasier; and two sisters: Joyce Greiner and Teresa Bach.

Luce Funeral Home of Faulkton has been entrusted with Bernice’s arrangements.