Bernice "Bunny" Zehren

Bernice “Bunny” Zehren, 93 year-old resident of Little Falls, Minnesota, passed away Wednesday, November 24, 2010. Funeral services will be held Tuesday at 2 PM at the Episcopal Church of Our Savior in Little Falls at 2:00 pm. Burial will be in Oakland Cemetery in Little Falls. Friends may call from 3:00 to 5:00 PM Monday, at the Shelley Funeral Chapel in Little Falls and Tuesday from 1-2 PM at the Episcopal Church of Our Savoir. Bernice was born on November 22, 1917, in Moorhead, Minnesota, to Phoebe Ester (Plummer) and Jalmer Bernard Erickson. She attended Moorhead High School, where Bunny participated in journalism, music, and acting. She continued her education at Moorhead State Teachers College where she was a member of Kappa Pi Teaching Society, Geography Council, Gamma Nu Sorority, Dragon Masquers dramatic fraternity, College Chapel Choir, and January Jubilee. Upon her graduation from college in 1939, Bunny taught school for two years at Pelican Rapids, Minnesota. After her marriage to Vernon Zehren on June 14, 1941, she and Vern began their married life in Breckenridge, Minnesota. When Vern enlisted in the Navy after Pearl Harbor, Bunny joined him in Chicago where he was stationed as an officer at Navy Pier. She returned to Moorhead in the summer of 1944 where she gave birth to her son, John “Jack” Zehren. She and Jack then rejoined Vern in Pleasanton, California, where he had been stationed. After VJ Day, Bunny and family returned to Breckenridge where her second son, James “Jim” Zehren, was born in 1948. In 1950, Bunny and Vern and their two sons moved to Little Falls, Minnesota, where she commenced a teaching career dedicated to elementary and special needs students. As a teacher and administrator she fostered and innovated teaching techniques and programs for students with learning and physical disabilities. At the time of her retirement in 1984, she headed the Mid-State Educational Cooperative, a multi-district special education program in central Minnesota. Bunny enjoyed a broad range of personal interests that were focused on family and friends including a passion for Minnesota sports, social bridge clubs, renowned cooking and bread baking skills, camping, gardening, and traveling. Survivors include her sons, John (Jack) Zehren with wife Darlene of Vail, CO and James (Jim) Zehren of Portland, OR; granddaughters, Heather Zehren-Albinson; Kristen Zehren; Stephanie Zehren-Thomas and Alex Zehren and four great-grandchildren Taylor, Max, Skye, and Maya. Bunny was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Vernon Zehren on Dec. 2, 1986 and a sister, Ethel Pluth. Memorials will be given in honor of Bunny to support the work of the “Vern and Bunny Zehren Sports Scholarship Fund.”

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Bernice "Bunny" Zehren

November 22, 1917 - November 24, 2010