Bernadette Pintok

Eucharist Christian Burial for Bernadette Martha (Kulas) Pintok, age 88 of Holdingfold, MN will be celebrated at 11:00 A.M. on Saturday, November 23, 2024 at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Opole, MN with Father Greg Sauer officiating. Visitation will be on Friday, November 22, 2024, at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church from 4:00-7:00 P.M., with parish prayers at 7:00 P.M. Visitation on Saturday will be an hour prior to the Mass. Interment will be in the parish cemetery. Bernadette passed away on November 18th, 2024 at 4:27 A.M at Talamore Senior Living Center in St. Cloud. Caring for Bernadette and her family is the LeMieur Funeral Home in Little Falls. Bernadette was raised in the community of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church of St. Anna, MN. The oldest of three children, Bernadette was born on July 18, 1936 to the late Stanislaus and Mary (Langner) Kulas. She attended a small country school during her elementary years and graduated from Holdingford High School in 1953. Bernadette’s learning didn’t stop with her graduation. She continued as an avid reader all her life, never shying away from an opportunity to open a book and learn something new. And yet, Bernadette’s love of books never hindered her knack for adventure or travel. Drawn to the excitement of the big city, as a young woman Bernadette worked for a short time in the St. Paul School District Administrative office, absorbing all the grandeur of city life. Yet, in the end, her deep and abiding love for her soulmate and for his love of farming finally brought her back home. She met her love, Raymond Pintok, at a friend’s wedding. Though she started off not too impressed with Ray’s wild (fun) side, she could not deny her love for him. Reading like a picturesque romance story, she waited for Ray as he went off to fight in the Korean War, upon his return they courted for a time, and were finally married on June 25, 1956 at the Immaculate Conception Church in St. Anna. They shared 67 years of marriage and were blessed with 3 daughters, 3 grandsons, and 5 great-grandsons. All her life Bernadette served her God, her vocation as a wife and mother and anyone else whom God placed in her path. As a wife and mother, her faith grew each day as she learned to make our Savior the center of both her marriage and her family. Bernadette lived a life of service on the farm helping, and at times gently guiding, her husband Ray as they shared all the joys, sorrows, beauties and trials that accompany a family serving God on a farm. As the years passed, their bodies slowed, but their love grew to new heights. In the end, they were truly one. Starting in 1956, they spent each day showing their family and the world what a marriage can look like. When not working diligently on the farm, she was supporting by volunteering at the church, school, Saint Benedict’s Monastery and Munsinger Gardens, she also was employed at the St. Cloud Hospital and the local Avon hotel to save money for her grandchildren’s future, Bernadette might be found dancing with her husband, leaping at the chance to travel and explore the world, baking, quilting, tending her garden, spending time enjoying her daughters, dotting over her grandchildren, or drinking a cup of morning coffee as she took in all of the beauty that her and her husband had created on the farm. Perhaps one story best captures the influence that Bernadette consistently projected into the lives that God placed in her path. After a visit with his grandchildren, her husband Ray could often be heard saying as a goodbye, “I hope you live forever, and I never die.” One day Bernadette asked one of her grandchildren, “do you know what that means?” Puzzled, her grandson didn’t have much of an answer. In reply, she said, “Why heaven of course! We will all live forever together in heaven.” Bernadette truly understood and sought to live out this idea, “The only real sadness, the only real failure, the only great tragedy in life, is not to become a saint.” (Leonn Bloy) To carry on her memory are her daughters, Cynthia Neis, Sauk Rapids, Roberta (Mark) Anderson, Little Falls, Paula (David) Pintok-Mergen, Monticello; grandsons, Ryan (Sarah) Mergen, Tyler (Deepa) Mergen and Andrew Mergen; five great-grandsons; sister, Madonna Nentl; sister-in-law, Marcella (Charles) Chichon and many nieces and nephews. Bernadette was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Raymond of 67 years in 2023; her parents; two brothers, Daniel and Infant, Joseph, and son-in-law, Don Neis. Our heartfelt gratitude to the many caregivers who enhanced a better quality of life for Bernadette. May she be numbered among the saints and celebrate in eternal glory with her Savior Jesus Christ.

Tributes

Bernadette Pintok

July 18, 1936 - November 18, 2024