Bernice Marie Houpt passed away peacefully in her home in Louisville, Colorado with her family by her side on February 10, 2026.

Bernice was born to John and Gertrude Gerritzen in Great Bend, Kansas and had one brother and 3 sisters. After graduating from Iola High School, Bernice worked at Iola State Bank. She eventually went to work as a bookkeeper for Pet Milk Incorporated where she met Leo Houpt. After they were engaged, Pet Milk transferred Leo to California, and they anticipated this was where they would start their married life. However, life had other plans for them as Leo was transferred to Buhl, Idaho before their wedding. Bernice and Leo were married on May 2, 1962 at Saint Martin’s Catholic Church in Piqua, Kansas.

The couple spent 6 years in Buhl, and it was there that they began their family having a son and a daughter. In 1968 Pet Milk moved them to Greenville, IL where they expected to reside for two years. Those two years turned into fifty-four as they made Greenville their home for most of their lives. One of Bernice’s greatest joys was being a full-time mother for many years. As the family got older Bernice went to work at 1st Bank in Greenville where she was a loan teller until her retirement. Bernice and Leo relocated to Westminster, Colorado in September 2022. Bernice spent her last months in Memory Care at Balfour Louisville. The exceptional staff at Balfour welcomed her like family.
Bernice had many hobbies. She was an excellent seamstress and an avid reader. Bernice also enjoyed baking and provided many pies for the St Lawrence Catholic Church chicken and fish dinners. She also loved watching birds especially the hummingbirds that enjoyed Leo’s gardens. Bernice and Leo loved to travel and visited forty-nine of the fifty states including driving to Alaska twice. They especially loved the mountains and observing wildlife.

Bernice is survived by her daughter Alisa of Westminster, CO; her son Ron (Cindy) of Newark, Ohio; her sister Helen, her granddaughter Sarah; step-granddaughters, and many nieces and nephews.

Bernice will be cremated and her ashes spread together with Leo’s in the mountains they enjoyed.